Insatiable
by twirlingdevine
Summary: The future is a mystery waiting to be discovered, and that's what makes it so exciting. Or if you asked Naminé, that's what makes it completely horrifying. Uncertainty, however, can bring about exciting new experiences when you least expect it. Whether they end up good or not is yet to be seen. [AU]
1. A New Chapter

A/N: Hey guys! After some very helpful guidance from **RedeemingEndeavour** I've decided to re-write the first and second chapters. Not much will be altered, but I wasn't happy with the first one and after some deliberation decided to change it. The first chapter is what's going to reel my readers in, so I'd like to make it as interesting as I can while focusing on the main themes Insatiable is going to explore. So without further ado, here's take two!

For those just checking out my story, welcome! I hope you really enjoy reading, I have big plans for this story and am looking very forward to writing it.

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For a fleeting and exceptional moment, I paused to look away from the lecturer at the front of the room to gaze behind me, and I felt a strange, overwhelming sort of feeling as I looked over at the hundreds of other people sitting around me. Some were huddled in groups looking excited and happy, while others, like me, were sitting alone, their eyes glancing around with a scared, lost sort of look. Others looked completely bored and probably wouldn't return for the rest of the semester's lectures.

I turned back to the front where the lecturer continued to talk. It was the third day of uni today and I was feeling a little… non-complacent.

I had no desire to leave high school at all, and I absolutely abhorred change. It bothers me when mum buys the wrong brand of milk, so how was there any hope for me transitioning from high school to university?

A lot of people don't believe the old 'high school makes up the best years of your life' saying, and going into it, I didn't either. But upon finishing high school, I realised they truly _were_ the best years. I was able to go through the entirety of high school with a close group friends, I was able to divulge in my art, and I had experiences with the others I will never forget. Sports days, goofing off in class, graduation… these were the days I would always take for granted.

What made the transition to university even worse was the amazing summer holidays. We had absolutely no homework and were fresh out of high school, and it was the most relaxing and exciting summer holidays I've ever had. So to have that stripped away from you to begin anew at a completely new institute made me even more disdainful.

My thoughts were interrupted by the loud clang of books and pens hitting the floor. Someone's desk had just fallen down, dropping its' contents with it. The student picked up their things with a pink face as just about every other person in the room turned to look at them. Another thing I was going to miss about high school was actual tables, and a class size actually suitable for getting to know people. When I walked into the room I knew I wouldn't have the guts to sit next to any of these five hundred people.

I tucked my blonde hair behind my ears as I looked down at my phone, which began to flash. I picked it up and saw a message from Kairi.

"Olette and I have a break now, would you like to meet up with us? We'll explore the uni and try and find a good place to hang out and have lunch!"

I smiled for the first time in three days. I had been too exhausted to muster so much as a word with all the new places, times and theory to remember. I quickly texted back an eager yes and offered to meet them outside the campus centre. It was the only place I was sure all of us knew. You couldn't miss it, really – the giant building in the heart of the campus. If that didn't help, the smell of food cooking from within the many cafés and restaurants might.

Lectures started at five past the hour and ended at five to the hour, but by ten to people were already packing up their books and clamouring to leave. I was too, but only because I was so excited to meet up with the girls. Since we were all still getting used to our timetables I hadn't been able to meet up with anyone yet, and I'd spent the last two days eating lunch by myself. This would definitely be a welcome change.

The lecturer finally gave up trying to talk over the noise of everyone packing up and let us out early, and I almost leapt down the stairs and towards the campus centre, walking past hundreds of unknown faces. This was just too daunting for me.

I entered the building and tucked myself in tight to avoid hitting elbows with other students, and finally made it to our designated meeting point, under a sign that appropriately said 'meeting point'. At least our uni understood the difficulty for first year students to find their way around.

"Naminé!" I heard a familiar voice, and spotted the two girls a little ways off. The voice belonged to Kairi, who was waving her arm around to get my attention, her shoulder-length auburn hair framing her face. She had an excited smile, as opposed to Olette who looked a lot more like me, with a tired sort of look about her. She was smiling too though, that shy little smile she usually wore, and her brunette hair was styled in its usual way, with two long wavy strands hanging down each shoulder and the shorter layers bouncing up and down as she walked towards me.

My face lit up and I waved in return while they waded through the hordes of people. "Hey, guys! Didn't get lost in the crowd?"

"There are so many people here…" Olette looked around at the people with an uncomfortable expression. "I feel so small and helpless!"

"I like being around lots of people like this! It's no different to shopping anyway," Kairi giggled. Oh Kai, always the fashion connoisseur and an expert at wading through the crowds at the shops, something both Olette and I had been subject to.

"I dunno about you two, but I am completely exhausted and it's only been three days," I huffed. I was not ready for another eleven weeks of this until mid-year break.

"I thought you'd be excited about starting your studio classes?" Kairi cocked her head to the side in confusion. "You were the one who said you could only dream of doing such a course!"

"And you were the one who blackmailed me into choosing it," I sighed, remembering how Kairi had used some of my most embarrassing moments against me in our final year of high school to get me to apply for my dream course. Of course I had to be grateful to her since I actually did make it in, but she _could_ have just been encouraging like the rest of my friends… the blackmailing was a bit much. "I love my studios, but the lectures and the uni atmosphere itself is… a bit of an acquired taste."

"I admit the lectures are pretty hit-and-miss, but I like uni itself! Less contact hours than high school and a shopping centre a bus ride away!"

At least Kairi was seeing the positive side of it. Olette however took my side on this one.

"It's just so different to high school though… I really miss it," she admitted forlornly. "Everything's online, the lectures are way too big, and I already have so much work to do!"

I sighed, placing my hands on my hips. "Uni is going to take some getting used to… but it's only day three. I'm sure it'll settle down." Or at least I hoped so.

The crowd was getting thicker as it neared closer to lunch time, which at uni seemed to be any time between 10am and 3pm. We had already restricted ourselves to a tiny corner by the meeting point and decided it was too squishy for comfort.

"How about we take a look around the uni? I dunno about you two, but I've had barely any free time to actually check out the place." Kairi dragged the two of us outside before we could agree, and soon she was playing leader. "So which way should we go first?"

We followed the redhead along the path, where we came across a market, the gym, the arts library, the rotunda, the different faculty buildings, restaurants, and a grassy patch with a perfectly round hill in the middle and what looked like a sewer opening on the top. Kairi told us Sora had overheard this place had been affectionately named the 'boob lawn'. We'd just about circled the entire academy when we finally rounded a corner and came across another library, hidden by other tall buildings and foliage. Underneath the library we saw a café, along with other food outlets.

"Let's check that out!" Kairi said enthusiastically, dragging us yet again, not unlike the way she'd drag us towards a dress she liked. The automatic doors opened and the smell of coffee hit us instantly.

The little café under the library was warm and, best of all, not too populated. There were plenty of seats around and it wasn't too noisy, so you could have a decent conversation in here. There were even couches to the left of the room where you could plug in your laptop and relax. Other than the main café was a kebab shop and a small Japanese cuisine takeaway outlet.

"This place looks nice," Olette commented first, gravitating towards the café. "Hot chocolate, anyone?"

"That sounds good!" I agreed. It was still quite hot out, but after the last three days I'd had, a comforting hot chocolate with friends sounded like the perfect pick-me-up.

Olette and I ordered a hot chocolate, Kairi being more of a coffee-nut and ordering a latte. We found a cosy spot on the couches with our beverages and had a girly chat like we used to at our usual spot back at high school.

After complaining about the uni's online system, lectures, those tables that flipped downwards in the middle of the lecture, hearing Kairi's story about how Sora was late to his second lecture and walked right into the lecturer, raving about the hot chocolate, reminiscing about the summer holidays, organising a shopping trip for next week, looking at a cute guy Kairi pointed out (ever the match-maker) and talking about how lucky we were to be here, it suddenly dawned on me that this was the first time I was truly delighted to be at uni. Of course, I knew I'd fall in love with my studio classes, but this right here was what was going to make it really special. Meeting up with my friends and making memories just like we did at high school.

"Hey guys," I sat up in my seat, clutching my empty cup, "we should make this place our new 'usual spot'. It's near the centre of the campus so everyone can get here easily, and it's nice and quiet."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Olette nodded. "We should let the others know too. Hopefully we all have lots of breaks together in our timetables."

"I'll tell Sora to pass on the message," Kairi added. "This'll be great! It'll be like we never left high school."

Kairi's comment left me with a nice feeling welling up inside me. Even though we all had to go through this transition of growing up and following our dreams and aspirations, we were doing it together, and that's what made the experience truly special. We'd get to hang out in the new place and share in the delights and downfalls of uni life.

Looks like Radiant Academy had a silver lining after all.

…

**Preview**

"I knew you'd see things my way!"

"We've got our three year anniversary coming up."

"Um... I like your shirt."

"Does anyone here want a job?"

"So how are you kids enjoying the uni life?"

…

* * *

A/N: In the coming weeks Naminé's going to find a few more silver linings! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and look forward to the next one! Feedback and critiques would be greatly appreciated!

For those who've read from the start, I apologise, you're gonna have to re-read some bits in the next chapter since I've altered the first one, but I hope you can look past that and continue to enjoy my story!

Also, please check my profile for my new blog,** Fiction Café**, where I will be posting up extra information about Insatiable! These will include chapter reviews and extra information for those of you who are interested!


	2. By Chance

A/N: For those of you fretting as to why you've got chapter 2 again, I've updated the first and second chapters after some helpful guidance from **RedeemingEndeavour**, so if you could go back and re-read the first chapter that would be great! This chapter is not altered a great deal, so you don't need to re-read this one.

For new readers, I hope you enjoy the second chapter!

Thank you to all those who've given reviews so far! It makes me so happy to know people are interested in the story! I'm still a fanfiction newbie, but I'm having a lot of fun. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter; we've got new characters and a certain boy you've all been waiting for!

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"So how are you kids enjoying the hard life?"

We each looked up at where the teasing voice had come from, and our eyes fell on a cheeky smirk and bright blue eyes, slightly hidden with silver hair.

Riku sat down with us at the university café, our new 'usual spot'. It was only our second week of uni and we were still trying to find our bearings, but Kairi and I had managed to round up most of our friends from high school and get them to come here during their breaks. They all agreed it was the perfect spot.

I moved my textbooks and sketchbook to make room for Riku, who had his laptop in tow. He was a third year, and was already a veteran in the ways of university life. He'd gone to high school with us and even tutored us for our final year.

"You mean the _good_ life." Sora hung his arms behind his head and sunk in his chair, ruffling his spiky brown hair. "Uni is so much easier than high school!"

"You won't be saying that at exam time," Riku teased, punching his old friend in the stomach and causing him to recoil. The rest of us laughed.

"He's only saying that because lectures are so easy to skip," Kairi added with a smirk.

"Hey, I don't skip that many! Besides, then I get to spend more time with you, right?" He played his cards, but Kairi wasn't buying it.

"You'd think I wouldn't complain about a boyfriend whose top priority is me, but I'm not letting you get away with that one." I smiled at their little exchanges. Those two were definitely made for each other. They were coming up to their first anniversary, come to think of it. Kairi had actually liked him since we started high school, but Sora only recently got the guts to ask her out. That and Riku threatened him into it.

"He can afford to skip lectures, he's only taking sport ed." Riku rolled his eyes, waiting for his laptop as it hummed to life. "You can't exactly skip out on law subjects and wish for any more than a pass." Although Sora and Riku were best friends and goofed off a lot, Riku was actually a hard worker and I knew he'd make a good lawyer one day.

"Hey, P's make degrees," Sora shrugged, "And it's not gonna be easy teaching sport to kids, you know! I'm choosing a pretty hard career path!"

"Whatever, you and Ven can take care of the little ones," he teased, referring to our other friend Ven who was also studying education. "So how about you, Terra? Keeping up your neat notes with the fast-paced lectures?"

He poked our friend Terra on the shoulder, who was half paying attention and half working on his laptop. He was always a super neat writer in high school and we always used to tease him about it. In tutoring he had to rub his working out on the white board because it wasn't 'neat' enough (trust me, it was neat enough).

"Yeah, it's alright," he shrugged. "The lectures are pretty boring. The electives for engineering are pretty stale."

"You'll live," Riku chuckled, turning to the rest of us. "What about you girls?"

He was referring to the three of us huddled on one side of the table, Kairi, Olette and I. Olette being her usual self waited for someone else to talk, and so Kairi had to speak up first.

"I really like the uni lifestyle! There's more time for shopping in-between. Oh and studying I suppose," She joked. She'd already dragged Olette and I to the shops once this week.

"What are you guys studying again?"

"I'm doing business and arts." Kairi started us off. She wanted to open her own business one day, and of course it would be a fashion store. She turned to Olette to prompt a response from her.

"I'm doing arts," She said with a quiet smile, running a hand through one of her wavy pieces of brown hair that hung over her shoulder. She was taking literature and wanted to write for a living. She was scared she might not be able to make a living out of it, but us girls convinced her to follow her dream.

"What about you, Naminé?"

Riku turned to me. I twirled a piece of my blonde hair with my fingers, a bad habit of mine, and I replied, "Oh, multimedia and digital arts."

"You always did like to draw," Riku smiled, standing up, "Well, kids, I'm gonna go grab me some lunch. You'll quickly learn to eat as much as you can in your breaks, especially if you have labs," He winked as he headed for the kebab kiosk.

"Or in my case four hour studios," I sighed. I have never been so hungry in my life as I have been at university. I packed a lot more food this week.

I was beginning to enjoy uni more and more, and these meet-ups in the café provided the bulk of that. But I'd fallen in love with the studio room, and I was even starting to meet people in my classes!

A lot of people from our old high school applied to get in here, but it was actually quite difficult to get into Radiant Academy. It was ranked as one of the highest universities and had some of the highest entry scores, but most of our group of friends had managed to get in. I was so nervous at my interview I almost fainted, but I managed to get in with my portfolio. Of course for the rest of my clever friends it wasn't too difficult, except maybe Sora, who survived his English exam on an all-night study session the night before.

I was truly lucky to be surrounded by close friends at a scary time like this. I've always hated change, but being with the same group of friends made it feel similar to high school.

Light chat began between us (well mostly the girls, Terra was busy typing away and Sora was stuffing his face with food) when the cleaning lady came up to us.

"Could you push your bag under the table, please," she said quickly, pointing to Sora's bag. With a mouthful of sandwich he muttered 'sorry' before moving it with his leg, a look of horror as the old woman migrated to another table.

"Ah, so you've met Cackles the cleaning lady," Riku said as he sat down, a giant kebab in his hands.

"Excuse me?" Kairi asked, and we all looked in confusion and amusement at him.

"We've dubbed her Cackles. She'll tell you off if you leave you bag outside the radius of the table, or if your seat isn't pushed in enough. Also if you sit at that table," He pointed to the table in the very centre of the room, where a pillar with a corkboard attached to it stood, "She'll sit down with you. Avoid that table at all costs."

"She'll possess your soul," Terra added, clearly already educated in the story of Cackles the cleaning lady. We all just laughed while Sora had a horrified look on his face.

"You guys are awful," I shook my head, looking up at the clock. It was quarter to and I had a lecture in twenty minutes, but I wanted to do a little searching first. "I'm gonna head off, enjoy the rest of your break! Er… good luck with that kebab, Riku."

Riku was dropping lettuce all over the table and he just barely caught a piece of meat. He just chuckled and said "A man's ultimate challenge is to eat a kebab without dropping anything. I'll master it by graduation!"

Shaking my head, I waved bye to everyone and headed off outside. The weather was still nice out, but I knew winter would be approaching soon, my most hated season. It was just too cold, and it wasn't like I had anyone to cuddle. I didn't mind, of course – I'd always been single. Yes, I even missed out on the whole 'high school romance' experience, but I really didn't mind, and I got enough of that when Sora finally asked Kairi out. Not to mention the years of those two clearly liking each other without admitting it.

I headed past the engineering halls, along the path that led to the campus centre, and headed in. I enjoyed playing the piano, but in the first week I couldn't find any piano rooms in the music building, so I had just about given up, but on my way to the library café I spotted a landmark on the campus centre map – "Rehearsal rooms". I hadn't had time to check where it was since I knew Kairi would scold me for being late.

I went up to the giant map and scanned the locations again. There it was – basement floor? The campus centre has a basement floor? I looked around, searching for a sign or a door or a flight of stairs that went down, but couldn't find it anywhere. I scoured the map for a good five minutes before finally figuring out I had to go _outside_ to get in there. Uni maps were exhausting.

I found the room and went downstairs, and I could instantly hear the faint sound of piano playing. I smiled as I followed the sound around the corridor, and found three rooms, two of which were occupied. I raced for the last one, and there was a giant mirror, a few plush seats, and an ebony piano.

I set my bag down and shut the door without hesitation, lifted the fall and sat. I could hear the others playing; if only these walls were soundproof. I wasn't exactly a maestro. I remembered I only had about ten minutes however and got over my nervousness.

I pressed my fingers on the keys and a beautiful sound resonated throughout the room. This was wonderful compared to my keyboard back home. I played the first song I ever learnt. I was a little rusty, but I was having fun.

I decided this was a new retreat of mine I'd discovered at uni, other than the café with the others and the studio room. We didn't have all our breaks together and the uni was swelling with students, so a quiet place like this was just what I needed. Uni was getting better and better. I still missed high school dearly though.

I stopped short of playing, leaving an unpleasant sound coming from the piano. I'd gotten so lost in my thoughts and the music I was running late! I burst out of the room and headed for my class, knowing I'd be _that_ kid who came in late and interrupted the lecture.

The future had seemed really scary this summer, but actually being here wasn't so bad. And it looked like I'd now found two silver linings.

…

"That's it, girls – I need some retail therapy."

Kairi sprawled out across the table. We were actually in the library above the café for once, working on newly given assignments in our third week of uni.

"Kairi, we've been here for 20 minutes." I scolded, shooing her hand away so I could fit my sketchbook on the table. While they were busy writing essays and doing quizzes, I was busy drawing concepts for my projects. I would say I had the easy life, but I hadn't realised how hard it would actually be. Taking two art subjects in high school was a world of difference to taking 14 hours of art a week, not including the extra 18 hours they expected me to work at home.

"Business law is hard! I did not sign up for this!" Kairi argued, but we both knew what was coming next.

"Actually, you kind of did when you enrolled yourself in it," Olette said with a cheeky smile.

"Olette, now is not the time to remind me of poorly-chosen electives. Come on, it's only a bus ride away!" She stood up with a burst of energy.

"Sit," I said, pointing to her chair, "If you've got energy to shop you've got energy to study."

"Oh, you're worse than my mother," She sat down with a tight scowl, opening her giant textbook. The one thing I loved about my course was that I didn't have chunky textbooks filled with words – any books I needed were filled with inspiring artwork. "By the way, Selphie said she could meet up with us once a week for shopping!"

"Another excuse not to study?" I sighed, but I still smiled. Selphie was doing an events management course, which was at a different institute. It was one of those moments I wished everyone from our year level was in the one uni, but Radiant Academy didn't even offer a course like that here.

"We should try and organise Aqua to come along too," Kairi pulled a thoughtful face. "We could make this an annual thing!"

"Less planning, more studying."

"Naminé, why don't you just enrol in an education course?" Kairi teased. A lot of people had told me I should be a teacher, not just in the teasing manner Kairi had just now, but I didn't have my heart set on that. Plus I'd be way too nervous in front of all those people, even if they were kids.

We got back to studying, but it was short-lived as Kairi quickly lost focus again.

"It's only our third week, we can slack off-"

"Alright," I caved, "But don't expect this every week."

"I knew you'd see things my way!" Kairi immediately threw her books into her designer back, dragging Olette's novel away from her. "Let's do some shopping!"

The bus loop at our campus connected to almost every district around the city. People from all over the place came to this university, and so we had a lot of bus stops. There was a shuttle bus to the train station, three inter-campus buses, and countless buses that travelled from every direction. And of course, Kairi's favourite bus direct to the shops. Some people travelled over an hour to get to uni every day. Luckily for everyone from our little school at Destiny High, it was only a half hour trip.

"The bus driver's going to know our names soon, we get on this bus so often," Olette giggled as we hopped on the bus to the shops, and Kairi smiled as if proud of the fact.

"Girls, if we're gonna survive winter at uni, we're gonna need some nice jackets and coats. I hope you're ready for a long shopping trip!"

If Kairi studied as much as she shopped, well let's just say she could have easily graduated by now.

…

Six sore feet and nine shopping bags later (seven of them Kairi's), we found our way outside the store and waiting for the bus back to campus.

"I sure could go for a drink and some cake right now," I sighed, finding myself holding some of Kairi's bags. She had to give me the bag with the heavy boots. "We must've gone past a million cafés."

"Um," Olette's eyes lit up a little, "I know a place where they have really good hot chocolate. A friend from lit showed me. It's not far from here."

"A hot chocolate sounds good right now," I smiled, noting the chilly wind that was starting to blow.

"You guys are weak, a latte's the only answer after a shopping spree! But cake sounds good too, show us the way, Olette!"

We followed the brunette around the outside of the store and a little ways down the street. It was a secluded little café with white painted wood and a cute cottage vibe, covered by large trees.

"I never would have found this place on my own," Kairi shook her head.

"I wouldn't have either, but my friend told me they make the best hot chocolate here, and she's right!" Olette beamed, dragging us inside.

It was warm and cosy inside and there weren't many patrons, so we could place our order immediately. A soft-spoken young woman attended to us at the counter, her long brown hair pulled back in a plait. We ordered our hot chocolates, coffee and cake and sat down, and while we were waiting we heard a bit of muffled chatter from behind the counter.

"… C'mon, just ask! … like your newspaper ad even worked!"

Exchanging confused glances, we got back to our idle chat before a waitress suddenly burst out from behind the counter.

"Hey! Does anyone here want a job?" She shouted, her short raven hair bouncing as exuberantly as she did. "No interview required!"

"Yuffie, you'll scare the customers away!" The brunette woman hushed her co-worker, but the girl called Yuffie kept trying to grab our attention.

"Wow, they must be desperate," I muttered, looking back at the girls. Olette looked at me in agreement, but Kairi had a slightly more thoughtful expression.

"You two don't have jobs, right? You should volunteer!"

"I-what?"

"Yeah! Hey, over here!"

"Kairi!" I hissed, but Yuffie was already making her way to our table.

"These two are interested," The redhead smirked. Olette sank in her chair out of embarrassment, and I just stared at her incredulously.

"Al-right!" Yuffie said excitedly, turning back towards the counter where the woman was. "Told ya it would work, Aerith! We were hoping for just one person, but two is even better! I'll grab the papers!"

She was gone before I could say anything. "I… what just happened?"

We just came in for a hot chocolate, but Olette and I ended up signing papers ready for a job. This year was already turning out to be a strange one, that was for sure. A year for new experiences.

Once the paperwork was finished, the woman named Aerith came up as well and introduced herself. She was the patisserie here who made the delicious cakes and pastries. She also brought over our order.

"Sorry for the wait, and welcome aboard!" She smiled. "Would you two be able to come in on Saturday for training?"

"Definitely!" I smiled, and Olette nodded happily along. I never thought she would, but she actually seemed keen to start working.

"You'll love it here! We make the best food and drinks, but the location makes it hard for us to be seen," Yuffie pouted.

When we actually got around to our drinks, I had to agree, they really did make the best hot chocolate ever. I smiled at the thought that I'd know the secret and be able to make this for other people. The cakes were even more delicious, but I wouldn't be quite discovering the secret to them unless I followed Aerith around.

We thanked Aerith and Yuffie before we left, full and happy and employed. What a strange day today turned out to be. The advantages to starting uni were growing by the minute.

…

I stepped into the uni café with a heavy sketchbook by my side. I'd just finished four hours of studio and, dutiful to my timetable, decided to stay for the last lecture of the day. I still hadn't memorised when everyone else's breaks were yet, so I just stood at the entrance searching for anyone I knew.

I managed to find Terra and trudged over to his table. He was typing at his laptop as usual. He was quite sporty in high school, but I suppose he wanted to focus more on his future now.

"Hey Terra," I smiled as I sat down, though he could tell I was exhausted because he proceeded to ask "Rough day?"

"Just a long day," I sighed. "I'm still getting used to uni. Our homework-free summer made me kind of lazy," I smirked. We were all eternally happy that the summer after school ended would contain no homework for the first time in six years.

"It was a good summer," He agreed, briefly checking the university's online website before going back to… whatever that nasty math-related program was. "So I heard you and Olette nabbed some jobs the other day?"

"Oh yeah! We just went in for hot chocolate and we left with a job. I haven't started yet but I'm pretty excited," I explained, pulling a cupcake from my bag. Riku's advice hadn't gone unheard, and I'd packed enough food to feed my entire art class.

"So have you seen Aqua much?" I asked out of interest.

"Not really, I haven't seen her in a while." He shook his head. Aqua and Terra were without a doubt the most adorable couple at our high school, and they even got a mock award on the last day of school for it. It was always Terra and Aqua – you rarely said one name without the other. "We've got our three year anniversary coming up, but we've both got a lot on our plate with uni."

"That sucks. I'm sure you guys will find a way around it though." I smiled. I wished Aqua had been able to come here too. Not only would it make our old school clan bigger, it would mean Terra and Aqua could see each other more often. They lived in opposite directions of our school and now with uni, it made it even harder for them to see each other.

"Hopefully," He gave a small smile. He seemed a bit uncaring with his response, but he was probably worked up with uni stuff. I'm glad I wasn't good at math and chose engineering.

I remembered all the adorable moments they shared in high school and wishing I could have had that too, but seeing other people happy made me just as happy, and it wasn't like I was unhappy being single. Plus the guys at my school weren't exactly the type I'd like to date, and if they were they were taken.

It's just a silly fable, right? The whole high school romance thing. It works for some people, but for a lot it only lasts the high school stage, and then a break-up is due shortly afterwards. I think high school romances are cute, especially those like Terra and Aqua or Kairi and Sora, but a lot of high schoolers are not mature enough for relationships. Besides, I'd much rather wait for the right person.

Giving a dramatic sigh, Terra closed his laptop and grumbled a "I'm done," as he packed it away. As he did, he found a coin on the floor, and began spinning it on the table. Simple things pleased simple minds, or in my experience boys anyway.

But soon I became caught up in the fun of this coin, and as we were sitting opposite each other, we started passing the coin between us, trying to push it right up to the edge without letting it fall off the table. Soon we had a competition going.

"Another point for me!" Terra did a little fist-pump, waiting for me to push the coin.

We did this for a while and we made plenty of ruckus from the coin dropping on the floor, earning stares from Cackles, but I won three to two.

"I'll collect my prize money at the end of the week," I smirked, earning a scoff from the brunette. He took the coin from me. "Hey, I should at least get to keep that!"

"Too slow," He teased, pocketing the 10 cents. Well if he's that desperate.

We realised time had gone by quickly and we had to leave already. I tried to steal the coin from him on the way out to no avail.

…

The fourth week of uni had already begun, and I was at the station waiting for Olette. We both had 9ams on Wednesday mornings, the smallest of the train groups throughout the week. We often had the others with us, but today they either had 8ams or days off. Or in Sora's case he just skipped his 9am. I hoped Kairi's timeliness would rub off on his tardiness one day.

I yawned, rubbing sleep from my eye. I was getting later and later to the station these days, but with uni assignments piling up and a full day of training on Saturday (Which went well, although I didn't break any cups… okay one), I was finding it hard to stay awake in lectures.

I waited for a while, but soon received a text. "Sorry, I'm going to have to catch a later train, I'm running late! Don't wait around for me, I'd hate for you to be late too! Sorry Nam!"

I shook my head with a smile. Poor Olette. I put my phone back in my bag and stepped onto the train.

The good thing about being on the end of the line was that there was always a seat waiting for you. By the time I actually arrived at my stop people were standing by the doors.

I looked around for a good seat, and found one a little further up. I sat on the aisle side, since I hated trying to get past people once I'd reached my stop. Across from me, at the window side, was a boy who was probably about my age. He had dirty blonde hair that was an absolute mess and he looked extremely tired. Another poor uni student? Or maybe a high school dropout, who knows. I settled back to myself.

I'd forgotten to bring a book or something along on this trip, so I was stuck with looking out the windows. I also had a bad habit of looking at other people on things like public transport. I wasn't the only one, right?

I was glancing around, not really looking anywhere in particular… and then that was when I spotted it. It was amazing I did, because his jacket concealed most of the logo. The blonde haired kid was wearing a shirt with one of my favourite video game logos on it.

I didn't like to mention it much because I got embarrassed, but I liked playing video games a fair bit. I played less these days with uni and the last year of high school, but I still loved them. I kept the hobby to myself though, as not many of my friends played games. Or rather, not many of my girl friends.

My heart started racing. Should I say something? No, of course you shouldn't say anything, Naminé, he's a complete stranger, and lots of people wear shirts like that! Oh, but he likes that game… I should say something. No, I can't… but I mean what's the worst that could happen? Just say I like the shirt… no, I can't. Just… try to make eye contact. Okay he's not looking. Just say something!

The mental debate went on in my head for about five station stops, and people were taking the seats fast. If I didn't say something soon people would sit down and I wouldn't be able to see him at all. Okay. Time to say something…

And he puts headphones in his ears. Peachy. Maybe this is a sign I shouldn't. Oh, but I really want to say something… it's not silly, right? Just… wave your hand and say something!

For once my body listened to my brain, and I waved my hand very slightly, gaining his attention. He noticed, pulled his headphones out of his ears, and looked up at me attentively. Oh goodness what had I done.

"Um…" I stammered quickly, pointing to his chest, "I like your shirt."

"Oh, thank you!"

And that was the moment my inner self screamed. His voice was absolutely heavenly. I wasn't expecting that kind of voice out of him, but wow… Okay well let's keep him talking!

"Where did you get it?" I asked, and I could feel heat rising to my cheeks.

"Um, I can't remember actually." He said with a thoughtful expression. I wished he would keep talking because I could listen to that voice on repeat all day.

I settled back to myself once the short-lived conversation ended, and looked away with a smile. I didn't want to seem weird and tried to suppress the goofy grin across my face, but I couldn't believe I'd just done that. I never spoke up to anyone, especially strangers! It left me feeling good, especially since I'd just complimented a cute guy's shirt. I laughed to myself at the first impression I'd had of him. His messy hair hadn't helped, but now that I had a good look at him he was quite cute, especially the adorable smile.

I stole a few glances his way as the train kept going, and after a few moments he pulled out his phone and started up what looked like a game or app. I quickly realised it was an app that had to do with the game on his shirt. I had gotten him thinking about it, it seemed. I tilted my head and he noticed, and held his phone up as a silent explanation, since a lot of people were filling the train now.

We got to the university's usual stop, but I was at a different campus today for one of my subjects. I sat looking around some more when I realised the blonde haired kid was standing to leave. He was getting off at this stop! Did he go to Radiant academy too?

Only students ever got off at this stop and I was certain we went to the same uni. My heart skipped a beat with excitement, but at the same time it sank a little, because he'd have no idea where I was going. I could be going right into the city for all he knew! Come back blonde haired kid, I go there too!

He'd already left, muttering a quick "See ya," as he did. I waved bye, excitement filling me up. Maybe I'd see him around? That would be really great.

Lost in my giddy thoughts, I almost missed my own stop, and I spent the rest of the day humming a song from our video game.

…

_Preview_

"Love often turns up when you least expect it."

"He said he thought you were cute!"

"I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Hey you two, how's the happy reunion?"

"Honestly, I doubt I'll ever see him again."

…

* * *

A/N: I think first impressions are everlasting, even if your final opinion of someone is different than how you first saw them. I also love unexpected first meetings like this! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one is coming up soon! Don't forget to review on your way out!

Also don't forget to check out **Fiction Café** on my profile! I have ongoing character and chapter analyses going up there with lots of extra information! I've also got a Fan-made Soundtrack in the works, so look out for that!

Apologies to those who've already read this chapter and had to read it again. It's slightly altered, and the story will flow as originally intended from now on! It's always good to go back and improve on your work; I just hope the improvements make it more enjoyable for you guys!


	3. Missed Opportunities

A/N: Welcome to the third chapter and hope you're enjoying the story so far! It's certainly a lot of fun to write! :D A few more characters are introduced this time, and BHK makes a return! ;D Enjoy! And thank you to everyone who has given reviews so far, both encouragement and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and gives me the motivation to continue writing!

* * *

"Naminé, get over here and tell us all about this guy!"

"I'm kind of in the middle of work, Selphie."

"No excuses Nam! Come on, sit!"

There was just no getting through to Selphie. It was the Saturday after mine and Olette's first shift, and only our second day of working here, and all would have been fine if I hadn't opened my big mouth and told Kairi about the train guy.

I took a tray over to the bench and Aerith looked over at us. "You and Olette can grab a quick bite with your friends, we're not busy right now."

Curse Aerith for being so kind. Now I had to tell Selphie. Olette and I grabbed a small sample of mudcake and headed over to Kairi and Selphie, who had made it a habit to sit on the comfy couch by the window.

Kairi had her head resting on her hands, a wide smirk across her face. "Come on Nam, tell us everything!"

I rolled my eyes as I sat down. "There's nothing to even tell! So I said hi to this guy on the train…"

"You, Naminé, do not just 'say hi' to guys on trains." Selphie waggled a finger in front of me as-a-matter-of-factly. "You stay away from any guy who isn't a boyfriend of one of your friends."

"Hey!"

"And you certainly don't talk to strangers, let alone cute guys on trains!"

"How do you even know he was-"

"Was he cute?" She interjected before I could speak.

I hung my head and took a bite of my cake. "Yeah…"

"Was he super cute?" Kairi added in, and I just screwed my face in embarrassment and earnt a laugh from the girls.

"Seriously, how did you say hello?" Olette asked, showing a genuine interest in how someone equally as quiet as her could end up talking to a guy.

"Well… I complimented his shirt."

"You did what now!?" Selphie almost stood up in her seat. "Our sweet innocent Naminé is hitting on guys now!"

"You guys…" I sunk even lower in my seat. "I just got excited because he was wearing merchandise for something I liked, so I thought I'd say something… took me about five station stops to finally speak up though. But he got off before I did and he would have no idea who I am."

"Wait, he got off before you… you go to the other campus on Wednesdays, don't you?" Kairi questioned, and I nodded.

"He got off at our station, which means he must go to our uni! But honestly, I doubt I'll ever see him again."

"Never say never, Nam, love often turns up when you least expect it," Kairi winked, earning another eye roll from me. "And when you start going out with this guy, we can double date!"

"Honestly, Kairi…"

"How romantic would that be! Though don't do that thing where you get married the place you met, 'cause getting married on a train is _not_ romantic." Selphie grimaced, and we all giggled.

"I can't believe I missed seeing this guy," Olette said with her brow furrowed. "I'll suss him out for you." Kairi and Selphie nodded vigorously, with Selphie adding a 'give us all the details!', and I just ignored them and ate my cake.

Olette and I soon got back to work, though full of mudcake I had to walk a bit slower. Working at a café may not be good for my waist.

"Hey, Naminé?" Yuffie grabbed my attention as I was taking a tray to a customer. She held up her hand in a thumbs up position and said "You go for it girl!"

Oh, boy. Looks like Yuffie was going to be just as bad as Selphie when it came to my non-existent love life.

…

Although I didn't get my hopes up about seeing blonde haired kid at uni, (we were in week five of uni and I hadn't seen him once before), I was hopeful I would see him at the station again. However, fate had decided to throw an obstacle my way.

"They're doing construction at the station, did you want me to give you a lift to the next one?" Kairi asked me over the phone, and I was relieved she couldn't see the disappointed look on my face.

The next Wednesday Kairi picked me up and we drove to the next nearest station to catch the train, which seemed a bit of a waste, but Kairi insisted it was still cheaper. I looked around just in case I might spot him, but I didn't.

I can't say I was that saddened, because I didn't even know the guy. He could be a creep for all I knew! I decided to not worry about him. The next week was semester break, so even if I was going to see him again it wouldn't be for another two weeks. And as if things like this happen in real life anyway. People only ever meet like that in movies or in Selphie's head.

…

"I'm so glad you could make it!"

Aqua was dressed in a beautiful black and white cocktail dress, her short azure hair framing her smiling face. She welcomed us all in.

It was Aqua's 18th birthday, and she was having the celebrations at her house. I'd never been to her house before since she lived further away from most of us, but boy did her parents make bank! Their house was situated among a hilly landscape, and the view from their living room was magnificent, especially at night, when all the lights from the houses at the bottom of the hill were on. A girl could get used to this kind of living.

The girls and I (and Sora – the poor guy was always lugged around with us girls) stepped onto their patio and said hello to the others. There were a few people we didn't know, but we spotted Terra and Ven already getting into the snacks.

"Hey, save some for me!" Sora raced towards them, which left Kairi with her hands on her hips.

"If our kids inherit his stomach, lord help me," she sighed, following suit.

"Hey, long time no see!" Ven called out to us, and we rushed over to him. Although Ven also went to Radiant Academy, we didn't see him nearly as much as the rest of the guys.

"That's because your timetable is so awful!" I pointed out as if to scold him, and he just rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.

"I know, sorry… but it suits me great! No breaks and I get to go home early!" He stuck his tongue out, to which I belted him gently over the side of the head.

Olette and Selphie had found some seats and started to chat, so I headed on over to see Terra, who looked much more lively than he ever was at uni, dressed in a light checkered shirt and shorts. Aqua was with him, and they looked really happy. I hoped to have something like that one day.

"Hey you two, how's the happy reunion?" I giggled, and the two of them smiled.

"It feels like it, doesn't it? Uni takes up so much time," Aqua gave a sad little smile, but she turned to Terra and gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "Though I can't handle _too_ much of him or he starts to get distracting!"

"You couldn't handle any more of this," He teased, and she poked at him playfully. I wished they could have gone to the same uni, but if they were still happy, it didn't make too much of a difference.

Riku arrived shortly afterwards and most of the guests had arrived. He had decided to bring a surprise for the birthday girl.

"Glowsticks!" He announced, holding up a big box, and everyone rushed to grab some. Aqua just laughed as Selphie and Kairi put a glowstick necklace around her neck. By the time I reached the box there were only blue ones left. I really wasn't fond of the blue ones because they weren't very bright, but they'd have to do. I put one around my wrist.

I headed inside where Aqua's parents were getting more food ready. I swear this family was the sweetest you can ever meet. They offered me a drink and I politely declined, moving towards the giant photo board they had up.

Looking at all these photos, a hit of nostalgia waved over me. Among the baby and childhood photos of our beloved Aqua was a myriad of high school photos. Most of them were photos of Aqua and Terra together. There was one of them at the year 10 formal. I smiled fondly at that one because it was the day after that Terra asked her to be his girlfriend. There were photos of them kissing, smiling and playing around, but in every single one they looked happy. It made me happy to see a high school romance end so well. I was definitely imagining all of us at their wedding. Ven would be the best man, and one of the guys would probably give a drunken speech. Aqua would look so beautiful.

I spotted some photos of me too, as well as Kairi, Sora, Olette, Selphie, Ven and even some of Riku before he graduated. I was so lucky to be part of such a close group of friends. Oh goodness an embarrassing photo of me. Maybe nobody would notice if I took it off…

My sneaky photo-stealing mission was aborted after Selphie called me over excitedly. I noticed Olette next to her looking rather embarrassed.

"Naminé, I just found out Olette has had a boyfriend! Isn't that super cute!?" She shrieked.

"What?" I asked, knowing all throughout high school Olette, like me, had never had a boyfriend.

"I haven't!" She shook her head and waved her hands furiously. "A childhood friend of mine had a crush on me is all!"

"He said he thought you were cute!"

"We were ten!"

"Still counts!"

I shook my head. "Selphie, I don't think that really counts, but nice try."

She giggled like she was in high school again, and Olette just looked away, trying to hide the blush.

"Pence and Olette, it sounds cute!"

"Selphie! It's not like that! We're just good friends," she pouted, and I could see she was being serious. I'd actually heard about Pence before. They grew up together but ended up going to different high schools, but they still kept in touch.

I sat down with the two of them and quickly changed the subject for poor Olette, all the while trying to snap the glowstick on my wrist to make it glow. These darn blue ones just didn'-

"Ahhh!"

"Naminé!?" Selphie looked over just in time to see me squirt the liquid from the glow stick right into my eye. I stood and raced straight for the bathroom, not knowing I had a crowd forming behind me.

Aqua rushed in and helped me wash my eye out. I could feel my skin tingling. This stuff was not kid safe!

"Smooth one, Nam," Kairi said when she entered the bathroom and saw me holding a wet rag to my face. "Remind me not to let you near glowsticks on dates."

"I'm going to kill Riku," I sighed, stepping out of the bathroom to find said perpetrator.

After chasing around Riku and throwing the rag at him, my bloodshot eye wasn't stinging anymore and I could enjoy the party again. That would be one to tell the kids. Poor Aqua's parents were about to call poison control until I pleaded with them that I was okay.

"Time for cake!" Terra called out, carrying a cake out to the table on the balcony. We all followed eagerly (Sora was of course at the front), and Aqua looked delighted as Terra lit the candles for her.

"I'd just like to say something first," Terra called out, and we all hushed, except for the sound of Kairi slapping Sora's hand away from the cake. "Thank you all for coming here today, I don't think there's any better way to celebrate your birthday than with all the people you love most. Thanks for the party supplies Riku, though I don't think Naminé appreciated it!" Everyone laughed, and I sunk back into the crowd to hide my probably glowing face. He turned to his girlfriend with a smile. "I'm so lucky to be able to have spent so much time with the girl I love and help her celebrate her becoming an adult. It's been a great journey growing up with you, and I can't wait to grow old with you. Happy birthday."

All the girls gushed and made girly noises, and all the guys had embarrassed smirks on their faces. Aqua and Terra shared a kiss and we started to sing happy birthday.

"Thank you so much everyone," Aqua said after she had blown out the candles. She would have said more but she was on the verge of tears. I don't blame her after that speech. He was definitely a keeper.

Amidst the birthday fun I was able to forget about the stress of uni, and just enjoy being around my closest friends. It would've been a perfect night were it not for the glowstick incident.

…

I trudged into the station. The winter months were creeping upon us and it was already deathly cold, that or I just couldn't handle sudden weather changes very well. I really didn't like winter.

My coat was so thick I had trouble reaching to validate my ticket. I started to put my ticket away, looking around for Olette, since it was Wednesday morning. It was week seven already… semester break had gone way too fast.

I looked up, but instead of seeing Olette I saw someone I had completely forgotten about until now.

Blonde haired kid.

He noticed me as he validated his ticket and gave a smile. "Hey!"

"H-Hey!" I smiled back, my eyes wide. He finished validating his ticket and headed onto the train. So he did always catch this train! This made me so happy. I mean, that last trip could have easily been a one-off.

I was about to race after him, but I remembered I had to wait for Olette. Or maybe she was already on the train?

I stepped onto the carriage and looked around, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I stepped out again, and I saw her walking outside the station.

I walked back along the platform and waited for her, but just as she was stepping inside the doors to the station, the train started to pull away. On the outside I was calm and casually waiting for Olette, (he could've been looking at me!), but on the inside I was slightly disappointed. But hey, maybe I'd see him again next week? I reminded myself again I didn't know the guy at all, and I had another five weeks of semester to have the chance to meet him anyway.

I smiled as Olette came up to me and validated her ticket.

"So is cute train guy here?" She teased as she stood next to me, waiting for the next train.

"Oh, no." I shook my head, deciding to keep our little run-in to myself. "Oh well, you win some, you lose some."

"Selphie won't be happy," she reminded, and I just laughed, secretly hoping I'd see him again.

…

_Preview_

"I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"So you go to Radiant Academy too?"

"Don't make any plans with boys."

"Do you usually go this way to uni?"

…

* * *

A/N: It's one of those moments you just want to grab them both and smush them together! You'll just have to wait and see how they'll meet again :P I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always don't forget to check out **Fiction Café** for the chapter analysis! I also have an extra treat for you guys – for certain selected chapters I'll be doing **alternate POVs**. For Chapter Three, it will be **Roxas' POV**! Check my blog to check out this extra piece of writing! Thanks for reading!


	4. Number

A/N: The moment you're itching to see will arrive soon, don't worry! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"A public holiday. There has to be a stupid stinking public holiday."

"There's always the week after," Kairi reminded me, before quickly being shushed by my art teacher. After a small debate he'd allowed my friend to sit with me while she waited for class to finish, as long as she didn't disrupt. It wasn't like studio was deafly quiet, but most of the students liked to concentrate on their work.

I drew another line on my canvas, a little wonky due to my frustration. "I guess. I'm being silly, aren't I? I don't even know the guy. He could be a drug dealer or- he could hate art!"

"That's going a bit far, Nam," Kairi said in a softer voice, but she still earned a glare from my teacher. Yeah… she wouldn't be allowed back here. "You never know. There's still four weeks of semester, anyway."

Kairi had just told me that next Wednesday was a public holiday, which meant I would miss another chance to meet Blonde Haired Kid. I waved it off though, knowing I wasn't really missing out on anything. You can't miss what you never had, right?

"I can't believe we're almost half-way through the year." I shook my head in disbelief, shading a part of my sketch. "I'm actually enjoying uni, but we're here less than we were at high school."

"But we get like two months off during the winter! I know where I'll be, inside with a hot coffee," She smiled at the thought.

"What about Sora?" I teased.

"Oh yeah, him too. He's a sucker for cuddles so I don't have to worry about being cold." She smiled again, but this time more genuinely, thinking about her boyfriend keeping her warm. Those two couldn't get more adorable, and when you thought about it, Kairi's more serious and dominant nature balanced out Sora's goofiness quite nicely.

A few students shot a glare in her direction and Kairi clammed up.

"Your studio is scary," She whispered, and I just giggled. Her business tutorials must have been much more noisy.

…

"Enjoy," I smiled to the customers as I dropped off an iced latte and two cheesecakes, heading back to the kitchen. Working at Aerith's café was beginning to feel more familiar, now that I'd learned the ropes. Kairi and Selphie visiting every other day also helped with that.

"Olette, ready for our break?" I smiled at the brunette, who seemed lost in thought as she finished stacking the dishwasher. She looked lost in the clouds as I went up to her and waved a hand in her face.

"What?" She looked up at me, and I chuckled slightly.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I teased, grabbing a few slices of bundt cake for our break.

"N-Nothing!" She said, unable to hide her smile. I wonder what she was thinking about? I wasn't going to question though – I knew Olette liked her privacy, and I did too. Plus Selphie and Kairi would probably interrogate her later.

We headed over to our usual table and handed the others their cake, and I could instantly feel the weight leave my feet as I sat down. I still wasn't quite used to being on my feet all day.

"A girl could get used to her best friends working at a top notch café!" Selphie relaxed in her seat with her cake, "Hats off to Yuffie."

"Don't get _too_ used to it, Yuffie says any more friend discounts and it's coming out of our paychecks." I joked, and she saw right through me.

"I think I'll have another slice then."

"Hey!"

"We're going to need all the cake we can get; I am not looking forward to exams." Kairi sighed, packing away her business books. "We have less than last year and they seem twice as difficult!"

"You'll be fine, Kai!" Olette assured her. "At least you don't have to read ten different novels and have quotes memorised for the exam."

"I'm not as crazy as you," The redhead teased, taking a sip of her coffee. "By the way, since we have such a long break I thought we should organise something with the group. You know a mini holiday or something."

"That sounds fun!" I nodded. "Maybe a weekend getaway or something?"

"Don't make any plans with boys," She pointed to both Olette and I, which made no sense because neither of us had guys. "Especially you, Selphie." Well at least she had her priorities right.

"What? My girls come before any guys!" Selphie defended, he brown hair bouncing up as she said so.

Plans of where to go began, and we got so caught up in food lists, possible locations and how to entertain Sora and Riku on a potentially long trip, Olette and I almost went over our break time. We hurried back to the kitchen, our thoughts filled with excitement for the holidays.

Like I would have plans with a boy. And even if I did, like Selphie said, my girls came first, and I wouldn't give up a trip with my friends for any guy.

…

Another two weeks had flown by, and it was Wednesday morning again. To be honest my thoughts hadn't strayed to Blonde Haired Kid once as I waited for Olette to arrive at the station, that was until I saw a certain someone already in the carriage. I spotted him and looked away before he saw, but I had a feeling he'd seen me too.

Lord help me if that girl was late again I was going to kill her. But thankfully she wasn't, and came walking up to validate her ticket moments later.

"It's so cold now, isn't it?" Olette greeted me as she got her ticket. "You look nice and warm though."

I was wearing my fluffy white jacket again, and I had to admit I was pretty toasty, but my nose was about to fall off. These winter months were awful. "And how many singlets are you wearing underneath that jacket?"

We often teased Olette for the amount of layers she wore, and with good reason too. "Six," She said with a smile.

I followed her onto the train, into a different carriage, because it arrived right outside the ticket booths so we didn't have as far to walk. Olette was always resourceful. I knew BHK would get off at the usual stop.

"Hey Olette, the inter-campus buses go by the station, right?"

"I'm pretty sure they do. Why?"

"I might get off with you today. To keep you company!"

"Oh, thank you! I hope you're not late though."

I knew Olette liked it when I got off the station with her, plus I might get the chance to meet this guy, so I thought why not? Even if I was late to my class I didn't mind so much.

The half an hour trip seemed slightly longer than usual, but we finally arrived at our station. I followed Olette off, knowing BHK would surely be walking behind me somewhere. We headed down the road to where the shuttle bus was located. It was packed to the brim today and we barely made it on.

I managed to wedge myself on the very corner of the seat at the front of the bus, across from Olette, and there standing next to her, was none other than him.

We made eye contact and both our eyes lit up. "Hey!"

"Hey," I smiled, and I instantly saw the look of realisation and the surprised smile on Olette's face. My mind quickly clamoured for something clever to say. "So you go to Radiant Academy too?"

Smooth one Naminé, smooth one. We are on the Radiant Academy shuttle bus. _Everyone_ here goes to Radiant Academy. I loved how words failed me at the most important times.

"Yeah," He said with a smile, and I took the opportunity to get a better look at his facial features, his lop-sided grin, his dirty blonde hair framing his face. "What are you studying?"

"Multimedia and Digital Arts," I said quickly, telling my brain to slow down a little. "What about you?"

"Business," He said with that voice I loved. I'd forgotten how heavenly it was. "Do you usually go this way to uni?"

"No, actually, I usually go to the campus closer to the city on Wednesdays," I explained, "But I only have one class there, my ma-aaain-" the bus had suddenly stopped and I had to stop myself from slamming into the glass wall around the driver's seat, hence the embarrassing word slur, "c-campus is this one," I chuckled, and he gave a small chuckle at my recovery.

I looked away with my face feeling very warm, and the bus soon arrived at the bus loop, letting off all the passengers. We all got out of the stuffy vehicle and out into the chilly air, and I stood back waiting for him and Olette to hop off.

Olette stood with me and the boy gave me a smile, and we both waved and said goodbye. He started to walk off, but then he turned around, pulling something out of his pocket.

He handed me a piece of paper, matched with that adorable smile of his, and turned back around to leave.

Olette gave me a fleeting smile as well, deciding to let me marvel at what just happened on my own (and I also knew she had a tutorial she couldn't be late for), and said goodbye herself. I finally found my tongue again and called out "H-Have fun in your tute!" It was directed at Olette, but he turned around as well and gave a quick wave. I watched them both walk into uni.

Unable to contain my excitement, I very delicately unfolded the piece of paper once I knew he was out of my sight. There scrawled in messy writing was his name and his number.

"Roxas."

Roxas. I had never heard of such a name before. It was such an alluring name. I couldn't believe what had just happened. A boy had given me his number! Being right in the middle of public made it difficult to express my excitement, so instead I had the widest grin I was capable of as I walked to the bus stop.

I had just missed the last bus and had to wait another half hour, which would make me late, but I didn't care at all. The other people waiting probably thought I was crazy, swaying and smiling and gawking at a small, torn piece of paper. I wonder when he wrote it? On the train after he saw me?

I couldn't believe my luck. I felt like dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. I'd never felt this elated by such a simple act before. I jumped around from foot to foot, hoping people thought I was just cold when in actual fact I was in euphoria.

And then it hit me that the ball was in my court. He still didn't know my name, and I had his number. How do I…? What do I…? _When_ do I…?

I was about to text Kairi and Selphie in caps lock and scream my situation at them, but I knew they'd freak out and could easily imagine what their reaction would be. This moment was mine alone. I didn't care if this didn't lead anywhere or if I even just became friends with this guy – the important thing was he liked me enough to want to get to know me. I was so happy.

The bus finally arrived, and after punching the number into my phone, checking it was right twice and having another mental debate with myself I finally decided on a reply:

"Naminé. It's nice to finally know your name!"

That would do. Short and sweet. Only took me half an hour to come up with that. I watched the world go by as I sat on the bus, clutching my phone and wondering what Roxas would bring to my life.

…

Preview

"You're lucky no one's home!"

"Introduce us to your new friend!"

"I'll play for you sometime."

"I don't mind. I wanted to see you."

…

* * *

A/N: And they finally meet! It's going to get a lot more exciting for our beloved Naminé from here on in! I hope you enjoyed this, and as always, look out for the chapter analysis at **Fiction Café**, look forward to the next chapter and don't forget to review on your way out!


	5. Belated meeting

A/N: Hope you're all excited for this chapter because I sure am! Roxas and Naminé finally get the chance to meet and get to know each other – will it all go so smoothly? Read to find out!

* * *

If anyone glanced at me right now, they would probably think I was a lunatic. I was staring off into space, swaying from side to side, a huge grin on my face.

It was after dinner and I was at my computer. My day had been filled with sporadic texts from Roxas.

I had been a little disappointed when I didn't get a text during the entire bus ride to uni, but I remembered he would have been in class. He replied to my text just as I got off the bus to my other campus, to which I almost screeched and sat down at a bench even though I was already thirty minutes late for class.

"It's nice to finally know yours too. Will admit I've been hoping to bump into you on Wednesdays so I could get to know you better. Anyone who likes my shirt is alright by me."

I swear, if you could bottle up feelings, now would be the moment to do so. I don't think I've ever been so excited, nervous and giddy all at the same time.

Since we both had classes our texts were each about an hour or so apart. At first we talked about the shirt and the game series it represented, and then more about games in general and how we each thought we could easily beat each other. I'd never been much of a texter (in fact I rarely used my phone at all) but even through this he seemed genuine and easy to talk to. Plus he didn't use silly teenage text jargon and emoticons.

Finally, I suggested a better mode of communication and he gave me his email address, which was what I was currently punching into my computer. This would be a lot easier.

We exchanged timetables to see if there were any reasonable gaps for us to catch up in. When he first asked if it would be okay for us to catch up for a coffee or something sometime I couldn't wipe the dopey grin from my face. I felt a little nervous thinking about it. Our timetables clashed pretty terribly, but he noticed I had a gap from 9 to 11 on a Friday.

"I could come in earlier on a Friday and we could hang out during your break? I usually don't come in on Fridays since I only have one lecture, but I wouldn't mind."

I'd immediately said he shouldn't go to the trouble, but he insisted. I could definitely get used to this gentleman-ly type. He seemed to have a good sense of humour too, after he'd made some jokes about our games and a corny reference to the way we'd met by plucking lyrics from 'Call me Maybe', explaining "Had to be done, I apologise."

Before I knew it we'd made plans to meet at the café under the uni library, and I thanked the gods none of my friends shared that break with me because I wanted it to just be me and him. They were worse than my parents when it came to embarrassment.

I couldn't believe my luck. By pure chance I was getting to know a guy who went to my uni, liked the same things as me and seemed so genuine and sweet! Of course I was still wary since I didn't know him very well, but the excitement of meeting someone like-minded for the first time was something I wasn't going to dampen.

I suddenly remembered that Olette would definitely be wondering what was going on, but I knew she wouldn't have told the others yet.

Looks like it was time to spaz to the girls.

…

"OH MY GOD!"

I tore the phone as far away from me as possible and I swore I heard ringing in my ears. If I was going to go deaf for this Kairi could think twice about ever knowing the details of my life again.

And then she made a loud screeching noise. I buried my head into my knees out of embarrassment.

"Oh my god Naminé! You're lucky no one's home!" she exclaimed, and I'm sure she was glad she didn't have to explain that scream to her parents.

"Would you calm down woman! You're more excited than what I was!"

"Oh no, there's no down-toning this my dear Naminé. A boy has given you his number and a beautiful relationship is about to blossom! I will scream as much as I desire!"

"Kairi…" I rolled my eyes, looking over at my desk where I'd tucked the paper with his number on it in a nook on my corkboard. "Who says anything's even going to happen? I barely know him. He's still pretty much a stranger!"

"You'd better not get married before me." I slapped my forehead.

"Seriously Kai, I mean, I'm really excited, but I'm not going to get my hopes up or anything. I'd just really like to take my time and get to know him. He might end up being a good friend."

"Or lover," Kairi teased again, and I gave up there and then. "But seriously Nam, I'm so happy for you! See, good things come to those who speak up!"

I smiled to myself. "Well, I _am_ glad I spoke up. I never thought something like this would ever happen to me."

I heard gushing from the other end. "This is too adorable! You have to introduce us once you get to know him better!"

"Yeah, yeah. It'll be easy getting to know him since he goes to our uni."

"Wait, so you texted him all day and now you're emailing him?"

"We only emailed briefly. We kind of, um… organised to meet up on Friday."

Another flurry of girly shrieks erupted from the phone. If this was Kairi after I simply meet a guy maybe I should think twice about actually dating.

"He clearly really likes you already!"

"Oh come on, he probably just wants another gaming buddy. We're just meeting up to get to know each other during an ordinary break, like our group does!"

"Does this mean we'll get to meet him during our breaks too?"

"Er… actually, he's kind of just coming during my break. He doesn't usually come in on Fridays."

There was a moment of silence, and I swear I could feel Kairi's stare from afar. "Naminé, a guy you just met has relinquished his sleep-in to meet you. I think you should sit on that for a moment."

I just gave a small laugh. "I know, I know, but I guess we're both just caught up in the excitement. I'm just glad I might be making a uni friend, to be honest!"

Kairi gave up playing cupid. "Well, cute gestures aside, I am glad you've made a new friend. But I still think it's a date. Now my dear Naminé, I am off to study for a business assignment. I'll be thinking of you on Friday! Keep me updated!"

Kairi hung up before I could complain about the whole 'date' fiasco, and I just rolled my eyes. I turned back to my computer and read over the emails again, wondering what Roxas would be like.

…

I was in the café at a bit before nine, since my lecture had finished slightly early. I was clutching my phone and looking around. The café at this hour was near empty, and the quiet sounds of clinking cups and the smell of coffee surrounded me. I normally went to the piano room during this break, but today was definitely going to be out of the ordinary.

I looked out at the window behind me, watching, and when he came into view I quickly turned around and pretended to be checking my phone. I… don't know why I did that. I guess I didn't want to seem too eager.

Suddenly he was in front of me pulling out a chair. His hair was much neater this morning but his smile was just as alluring. "Hey."

"Hey!" I smiled back, putting my phone away. "Thank you for coming in just for me. You didn't have to give up your sleep-in, you know."

He shook his head with a gracious smile. "I don't mind. I wanted to see you. You seem like a really great person and I really want to get to know you."

I had to contain my excitement this time compared to receiving text messages yesterday, but I couldn't stop the corners of my lips tugging upwards. "T-Thanks. I really want to get to know you too."

He noticed I had my sketch book with me. "Hey, could I take a look?" He pointed.

"Oh, um… if you like, they're not that great," I pulled up my sketch book for him to look at.

"Come on, you're doing a course on it so you must at least think you're decent. You're guaranteed to be much better than me."

"You draw too?" Lord help me this guy was turning out too perfect for his own good.

"A bit, it's only a hobby," He went into his own bag and pulled out a smaller sketchpad.

We exchanged books and I marvelled at how even though it was just a hobby he was pretty good. He liked games and drawing and he was clever and good-looking to boot… this was all too good to be true.

"Wow, these are amazing," He looked in awe at my drawings, flipping the pages gently. When he ran out of drawings he looked up at me. "You are definitely going to have to teach me."

I giggled. "You're pretty good yourself! We could just exchange tips."

"If you say so," He said, clearly not believing my compliment, but I ran with it anyway.

"Um, since we catch the same train I'm going to guess you live around the area?" I asked shyly, hoping it didn't sound too stalker-ish. To be honest Destiny Retreat was quite a small town compared to places closer to the city, so I was quite interested as to where he lived.

"Yeah, I live about a ten minute drive from the station, but it's a long walk because of the roads," He sighed, "My family moved here from Twilight Town about three years ago."

Twilight Town… that was about a twenty minute drive from here, in good traffic. "I was about to ask why you didn't go to my high school, but I guess that sort of answers it."

He gave a smile. "Yeah, I stayed at my old school. It was further to travel but it was worth it, I really liked it there."

"What school was it?"

"You probably haven't heard of it, it's called The XIIIth School," He explained, and he was right, I hadn't. "It's a pretty small school, we had less than a hundred people in our final year. I got a scholarship to go there after taking an entrance exam." Wait a minute, this was the kind of school you needed to take an entrance exam for!? They had those kind of schools around here!? Come to think of it, I'd heard of a low-key school a little ways from here... "So what school did you go to?"

"Destiny High," I answered after snapping out of my thoughts of Roxas being a super genius. "It's a bit of an under-represented school, but a lot of my friends got in here too, and I really liked it there. Uni doesn't seem as daunting with them here too."

He gave a warm smile, and I hoped he didn't think me too nervous for wanting to have people here I knew. "You're lucky! A lot of my friends went elsewhere, but I know a few people here too."

The comment made me wonder what his friends were like, but of course I just concentrated on him for the moment. So far he was completely enthralling.

"Since we live close to each other it'll make it easier to play some retro games together!" He said in a teasing manner, referring to some of the games we'd texted about the day before.

"I hope you know you'll have a challenge on your hands," I teased right back, and we settled into another conversation.

We talked, or rather he talked, for an hour and a half. I was always naturally shy and quiet and I thanked my lucky stars he was so chatty. We talked about general things like what we liked, what we didn't like, our families, friends, hobbies and anything that stemmed out from those topics. Every now and then we'd have a little chuckle over a small joke or story during conversation, where I could get another look at his smile. Other than finding out he'd moved to our area and that's why he went to another school, I also found out he was fairly athletic, he loved countless things I loved, and the most mesmerising thing I learnt was that he could play an ocarina, a key item from the game that brought us together.

"I'll play for you sometime," He smiled, and I just blushed, looking forward to it.

From time to time, and I don't know if it was just me or if he noticed it too, it would fall silent for a moment and we'd exchange these time-stopping glances, where he'd look me straight in the eyes and for that moment I felt an indescribable feeling. Okay, maybe it was just me and the silly things Kairi had planted in my mind, but I wanted to believe those glances were genuine moments between us.

I was lost in one of his explanations (engrossed in his intelligence) when all of a sudden I found my table surrounded by familiar faces.

"Hey Nam," Terra waved, Olette following right behind him. Her eyes widened and she gave me a knowing smile. Riku trailed behind them but headed straight for the café to get some food.

"H-hey, guys!" I smiled, and they decided to sit at our table. I had no idea these guys had a break at this hour. I was normally still in the piano room or elsewhere. I didn't mind, but I hoped Roxas didn't mind them interjecting our little meet-up.

Riku came back with a croissant and playfully raised his eyebrows at me before giving a warm smile to Roxas. "Hey Nam! Introduce us to your new friend!"

"Ah- right!" I wasn't used to introducing people at all. "Um, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is Riku, Terra and Olette."

"Nice to meet you," He said kindly, shaking the boys' hands and smiling at Olette. I had to giggle at his formality. "Naminé's told me a bit about you guys."

"Oh, really? Only good things, I hope!" Riku teased, sitting down with his snack. Terra, as usual, pulled out his laptop and Olette just sat there with her hands in her lap, unable to wipe the knowing smile from her face and trying to catch my eye.

"Yes Riku, I told him all about your amazing 'teaching skills'," I teased right back, referring to when he tutored us last year. If you could call it that, because most of the time we just talked for 45 minutes and spent the last bit of the hour on actual mathematics.

"Hey, you passed maths, right? Proof of my expertise." The silver-haired boy nodded with pride.

"So Roxas, what are you studying?" Terra asked, probably more an attempt to shut Riku up than anything.

The surprisingly wonderful thing that happened was that Roxas got along swimmingly with the others. He even got Olette to speak up, and not in the quiet and reserved voice she usually used around strangers. Soon the boys were talking about maths, which allowed Olette and I a chance to talk without being heard.

"He seems really nice," She nodded enthusiastically, with a genuine smile on her face. I couldn't help but feel completely overjoyed.

"He does, doesn't he? I'm having a lot of fun getting to know him," I added, noting the last two hours had gone by in the blink of an eye.

Wait, two hours? It was just about eleven o'clock and the both of us had classes. I hadn't realised just how quickly time had flown by.

"Um, Roxas, we'd better go…"

"Oh, eleven already?" He looked a little disappointed. "Guess we'd better head off. It was really great meeting you guys!"

"You too!" Terra and Riku called out, and I waved to them all as we headed out of the café. Olette gave me one last smile and I knew she'd be telling Kairi and Selphie all about this.

We were heading separate ways outside of the library, and he turned to me with a smile.

"I'll see you later."

"O-Okay!" I stammered, and we headed off. I turned back to glance at him for just a second as he walked away. I wondered if he did the same as I turned back.

In the middle of my studio class hours later, I checked my phone (something I didn't normally do, but my overexcitement was beginning to cause a new habit) and noticed a new message had just come through:

"I had a lot of fun today. Let's do it again sometime!"

…

_Preview_

"He'll probably get bored of me soon enough."

"I'll teach it to you."

"That kind of wrecks things."

"You're bad at phones."

…

* * *

A/N: Ahhhh subtle fluff everywhere! I feel almost as happy as Naminé writing this xD Don't worry, there'll be more reactions from the girls in the next chapter! I just wanted to focus on Roxas for now. I hope you're enjoying their cute little exchanges and getting to know each other! A lot more to come next chapter!

Also, I don't know how many of you paid really close attention but the _ocarina_ is going to play a fairly big role in the story. A few of you may be able to guess which game I'm hinting at that was the logo of his shirt ;D If not, I hope you can just roll with the ocarina thing without it sounding too strange. It's a legitimate instrument!

As always, don't forget to check out **Fiction café** on my profile and please leave a review on your way out! Thanks and much love!


	6. You make me sing

A/N: I'm so sorry for the huge delay! The holidays caught up with me and I became really busy. I've had a relaxing few weeks of summer break though. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday surrounded by loved ones!

I think this is going to be one of my favourite chapters so far. Hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

I wanted to ask someone, anyone, if it was a clear indicator a guy liked you if he sent you a text saying "How has your day been?" the day after you met up with him. Well it wasn't like I was a veteran at this stuff! Maybe he was just being polite! And I was still only just getting to know him; I wasn't going to expect anything just yet.

The girls however already had plenty of hypotheses on the matter.

"I bet he fell for you from the moment he saw you," Olette said in a romantic fashion, to which I rolled my eyes and took a tray from her.

"Hurry up and finish your shift so we can talk about him!" Kairi checked her phone. "Selphie is on her way too."

"Great," I said sarcastically, knowing Kairi had already told her and that she would give me an earful. Olette just giggled as she began to pack the things away.

As I headed into the back I noticed Yuffie giving me a sly grin, and I stopped short to glare at her.

"No eavesdropping."

"Aw, you're no fun!" Yuffie exclaimed theatrically, and I ignored her pouting as I got back to cleaning. Just as Olette and I took our aprons off a certain brunette entered the café.

"Naminé you sit your butt on that couch and tell us everything right now!" All the patrons in the café turned around as Selphie made her entrance. The sentence came out in one long, loud sprawl, and she looked almost maniacal as she sat next to Kairi and ushered me over. This was how I was going to die.

I reluctantly headed over and sat as far away from Selphie as I could, allowing Olette to sit down first so she could act as a barrier if the girl decided to freak out, which was pretty much inevitable.

"Spill," She demanded excitedly.

I explained how he'd given me his number, how we decided to meet up yesterday and how our meeting went. When I told her Olette had joined in towards the end her face turned.

"No fair, Olette got to meet him first!?" She turned to Kairi in a bid to get some back-up, but the redhead just shook her head with a smile.

"If it helps Selphie, I get to give you the extra information Naminé won't," She said with a cheeky grin, and I shot her a confused look. What else could she possibly know? "Naminé would never tell you how cute he really is."

"Oh, really?" Selphie said in that suggestive tone, and I grabbed one of the nearby cushions and threw my head into it. "Aw, Naminé's all embarrassed!"

"He's really nice, too," Olette continued, and I lifted my head again, thankful Olette was the first to meet him. "He's easy to talk to. Riku and Terra seem to like him too."

"Riku and Terra got to meet him too!?" Selphie threw her hands in the air dramatically. "Naminé, if I don't get to meet this hunk next you are not allowed to date him."

"I'm not dating him!" I wanted to run away and hide right now. "We're still just getting to know each other. If I'm lucky he might like me enough to become my friend. I mean, he's really interesting and kind… he'll probably get bored of me soon enough."

"Don't say that, Nam," Kairi said with a disbelieving tone, "You are talented and beautiful and if he doesn't fall for you there is something wrong with him."

I smiled, but changed the tone of the conversation to slightly more serious. "He might already have a girlfriend, and honestly, it'd make me really happy even if we became friends. He seems really nice." Plus I had someone other than Sora or Riku to talk about video games with. "I still can't believe I met him."

"At least it'll be easy getting to know him since he goes to our uni," Olette added, but I knew she was also hinting at the fact that she and the others could always easily spy on us from afar.

"I feel really lucky," I agreed with a nod, and thought back to our conversation yesterday. "I also found out he doesn't live far from the rest of us!"

"Really? Why didn't he go to our school then?"

"You know that really low-key school about twenty minutes from here? The one you have to take an entrance exam for?"

"Oh my god Nam, you've snagged a cute guy _and_ an intelligent one? You sure know how to pick 'em!" Kairi really should have been an actress.

"Hey, weren't you going to go there, Olette?" Selphie turned to the brunette, who immediately turned red and looked down at her lap, fidgeting.

"Y-Yeah, I was, but I really wanted to go to high school with my friends so I chose not to…" Oh Olette, ever the modest one. We all knew she had a good head on her shoulders, but she really needed to give herself more credit. But I was surprised at how small a world it was – if Olette had have gone to Roxas' school, they may have become friends!

"Anyway, girls," Kairi said in a tone of announcement, ever the leader, "It's our job to spy on our dear friend now so that we don't miss any details! I vote we skip our Friday lectures!"

"Kairi!"

"Come on, that's their time to get to know each other," Olette hushed the other two. "Naminé will tell us everything."

I smiled at how excited and supportive they were of simply making a new friend, and it made the whole thing seem even more exciting. I really did feel extremely lucky. Olette decided to betray me though by returning to their silly fantasies.

"It's so cute," The brunette gushed, "meeting like that!"

"It'll be the story you get to tell your kids!" Kairi added in for fun.

"Not to mention they'll be gorgeous babies by the sounds of it!" Selphie couldn't help herself.

I sighed, but even though these girls were causing me a world of embarrassment, I wouldn't trade their responses for anyone else's. "Thanks, you guys. It is all pretty exciting, meeting someone like that. I just hope it goes well."

"I have a good feeling it will," Olette said with a confident smile. I didn't want to jinx myself, but I did too.

…

"Wow, you guys have known each other since primary school?"

A week had flown by, and it had honestly gone by in a blur. In a flurry of texts and instant messages, Roxas offered to come in on Friday again. We caught the train in together on Wednesday, along with Olette, and she got to know him more. It amazed me how many words he actually got out of her, a feat usually only reserved for our small group of friends.

Olette had nodded happily. "Naminé, Kairi and I all went to the same school. Oh, you haven't met Kairi, have you?"

"Naminé's told me a bit about her," Roxas turned to me with a smile, and I nodded in agreement, though as far as Roxas was concerned, Kairi was simply a good friend who was not trying to match-make us or plan our wedding. He was not about to find that out.

"So you want to work in business?" Olette prodded, and I could almost see her mentally noting every answer in her mind ready to tell the others.

"Yeah, I'm interested in a lot of subjects but I seem to be naturally good at business. Hopefully I'll work for a substantial corporation one day."

"Do you miss Twilight Town? I used to live closer to there when I was little; a friend of mine still lives there."

"Really? I really liked it there, but Destiny Retreat is great too. Did you ever hear about the seven wonders of Twilight Town growing up?"

"No, what are they?"

Roxas had gone into a long story about the seven wonders of Twilight Town, something he and his friends investigated a few years back. The ride to uni wasn't considerably long, but with Roxas in tow it went in the blink of an eye. His stories were amusing and his animated way of telling them always put a smile on my face. The Wednesday train ride was one I would always look forward to from now on.

That afternoon he met up with me in the café briefly, before my lecture started and after his lecture finished. I was watching the clock diligently as he came in. After a quick chat about our day I announced I had to go, and his expression fell.

"Do you have to? You could just skip your lecture and have a longer break. I've got a break now!"

His face was so hopeful and excited, I just couldn't say no. I couldn't say no to anything really, but I had never skipped a lecture before for any reason, let alone just to chat with a friend. So I huffed and sat back down, mumbling about the fact that I never did these sorts of things. He just chuckled. "What makes me a special case?" I sent a pout his way and hoped my cheeks weren't flaring up too much.

We stayed chatting about all sorts of thing, and before we both knew it, not only had I skipped my lecture, but he had skipped his next one as well.

"I know, it was so funny! So I turned to- oh my god it's almost six!" I burst out, and the few other people in the café turned their heads to me. "When did it get so late!?"

"Wow, I missed my whole lecture," Roxas said looking just as stunned, "I guess we can call it even now, huh?"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you miss your lecture!"

"Hey, it's fine! It was worth hanging out with you instead of going to a boring lecture anyway." He gave me that slanted grin of his and I smiled. It was only now that I was realising just how quickly and how much he wanted to go out of his way to get to know me. What was so special about me that he'd do that? I appreciated it all the same, though. We walked out of the café together ready for the chilly train trip home.

On Thursday afternoon I was working on an assignment on my laptop which, compared to my desktop computer, has a considerably sucky internet connection. All of a sudden Roxas signed in (I really had to stop it automatically signing me in while I was working) and the message "Call from Roxas" popped up on my screen. In a chaotic attempt to find my headphones the call dropped, and I sent him a hurried message;

"Sorry, internet troubles!"

"I was playing my ocarina, thought you might like to hear!"

I slumped in my chair. The internet connection had never bothered me much before, but now it was the bane of my existence. He sent another message:

"If you can get your internet to work, just hit call, 'cause I'm going to keep playing a while."

I prayed to the internet gods to allow me this chance, because I hadn't heard him play yet, but when I hit call the fates decided against it. I heard scattered noise before the call dropped.

"I'm sorry, it keeps cutting out. Why is it doing this to me?"

"Clearly it doesn't want you to hear me play!"

I sighed. I really did want to hear him play, but it wasn't going to work. I guess it was a good thing since I did have an assignment to work on.

"Don't worry, I can bring it in this Friday and play it for you in person!"

I smiled. Maybe it was a good thing – my microphone probably wouldn't have done his playing justice.

My only problem now was the sheer distraction Roxas was providing from my work. I would draw in small bursts, quickly retreating back to the window where I was messaging him, and we were talking more about ourselves. We sent each other old photos and told stories from our school years, and in amongst drawing, talking to him, gulping down dinner to come back to chat and eventually giving up on the assignment, soon it was already 11pm, and we both had uni the next day.

"You're a bad influence on me! I never stay up this late! Go sleep!"

"I'm sorry! But I want to talk to you!"

"You have to get up earlier than me!"

"Alright, alright. How about this then, if you get bored and can't sleep, send me a text, okay?"

Boy did he know how to keep a girl talking. Although I'd told the girls repeatedly he was just a friend, I was getting a stronger and stronger vibe that there was something a little bit different in the air. But that was just me being naive, right? I refused to think beyond the fact. We were two people excited to be getting to know each other – as friends.

Yet I couldn't wipe the giddy grin from my face as I typed. "Whatever gets you to bed! I will though. Have a good sleep." Being this excited and wanting to talk to one person as much as possible was a whole new dimension, but I was enjoying every second.

And now here I was again on Friday, waiting in the café for Roxas, the same smells and sounds from last week surrounding me. The memories of that week were swirling around in my head, and I felt a dizzying sort of excitement. I'd been more social in the last three days than I usually was in a month. I sunk into my scarf, basking in the warmth of the café.

His blonde, spiky hair was visible from outside and I waved to him, now quite used to greeting him. He came in and dropped his bag by the table, getting out his wallet.

"It's freezing out there. Hot chocolate?"

I immediately shook my head. "Oh no, don't shout me! I can buy my own-"

"You don't get a choice!" He smirked cheekily at me. "So, hot chocolate?"

I sunk back into my scarf. "Well, if I don't have a choice…"

He winked at me and went to stand in line. I tried to busy myself with something so I didn't just stare at him while waiting, but it was 9am in the morning and after that last lecture my brain was more asleep than it was a few hours ago. He came back with the drinks and I graciously took my hot chocolate.

"You should try a coffee sometime. It wakes you up!" He took a sip of his coffee. I screwed my nose up.

"I'll be fine, thanks. I'd take a hot chocolate over coffee any day." I took a sip and the sweetness woke me up a bit. I loved the feeling of the warmth spreading through me as I drank it. I may hate winter, but I love my hot chocolate. "By the way, did you bring your ocarina?"

"Oh, yeah," He mumbled as he ventured into his bag, fishing out a box. Inside must have been the ocarina, but I couldn't see because it was wrapped in cloth. "I don't want it to get damaged. I'm not sure where we can play though."

"I know the perfect spot! I've been playing piano in the rehearsal rooms; a lot of people play instruments there." I secretly hoped we could play a bit of piano too. I had this vision of the two of us sitting on the stool and playing melodies from our game together, and the image always made me smile.

"Sounds good." He smiled. "I'll let you have a go too. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it." My face must have been beaming from the comment, because he started chuckling. "A bit excited?"

"Ah- well, I just love the sound of them," I writhed in my seat from embarrassment, busying myself with my drink. "At least then we won't be disturbed by my friends."

"They didn't disturb us, don't worry. They seem nice. I still need to meet… Kairi, is it?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "But if you meet Kairi you'll probably meet Sora too, her boyfriend. He's a bit of a goof but I'm sure you can have a sophisticated conversation with him… actually never mind, you probably can't," I teased, and he laughed along. "No, Sora's really nice. And you saw Riku, those two are best friends. You know Olette pretty well now… You saw Terra briefly, he may take a bit more prodding to get to know, he's been so busy these days. I feel sorry for poor Aqua…"

"Aqua?"

"Oh, she's his girlfriend, but she doesn't go here," I explained, "Oh, and there's Ven! You may not be able to meet him anytime soon, we never even see him, his timetable is so close-knit." And there was Selphie, but I doubted Roxas was ready for the wrath that was that girl just yet. "It's a shame not many of your friends come here."

"Yeah, but I'm sure you'll meet them eventually. We're all pretty scattered in terms of uni, but we meet up quite often to hang out. You'll probably meet my best friend Axel first. He's a bit of a handful, but he's really nice." Roxas had looked a bit worried for a second at the mention of Axel.

We chatted more about our friends and high school days until we finished our drinks, and then I led Roxas towards the campus centre where the rehearsal rooms were. The walk wasn't too far, so we were out of the cold air and back in heated conditions.

We walked down the stairs to the basement and I had a spring to my step as I led the way, and when I turned the corner to the three rooms I noticed the lights were out. Nobody was here yet! We'd have our own private music session!

My excitement heightened as I reached for the handle to my favourite piano room-

And found it was locked.

So this was why the lights were out. I supposed it was too good to be true. I turned back to Roxas with a solemn expression. "That kind of wrecks things. Of all days for the doors to be locked!" I looked forlornly at the number on the door to call if there were any problems with the room. Maybe I could call…?

"It's okay, we can find another place." Roxas assured, and my wonderful piano playing fantasy went out the window as I followed him outside again. The chilly air hit us and we wandered around for a little while, before walking by the boob lawn.

"There's nobody here. Why don't we sit here?"

"On the boob?"

"The what?"

Curse you Sora. "Oh, the bump, it's been called the boob lawn. See, it's a- never mind, this spot is good." My cheeks felt hot against the cool air, but Roxas just laughed and we sat on the edge of the boo- er, hill.

He pulled out his ocarina. It was a beautiful colour, and shone in the sun. Shades of deep purple and blue blended in a watery texture on the clay.

"What was your favourite song from our game?"

I chose a song and he played for me, and it was honestly one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard. Ocarinas were beautiful in their own right, but hearing a song from your childhood just sends chills down your spine. I sat in a sort of trance as I listened, and he played a few other songs with he noticed how enthralled I was.

When he stopped, I was lost for words. He gave a small chuckle and said "Liked it?"

"It was amazing." I shook my head slightly out of disbelief. "It sounds so beautiful. Um, thank you for playing it for me."

"Anytime," He said with that genuine smile of his. "Did you want a turn?"

"Oh…" I gently took the ocarina in my hands. It was a bit big for my hands and awkward to hold. I placed my fingers in the holes and looked at him, unsure. "I've always wanted to play one, but I don't know how…"

"I'll teach it to you. Go on, give it a go!"

I took a small breath and blew, but the sound that resounded was not a nice one at all. I retracted immediately.

"It takes a little getting used to. Try again, go on!"

Hesitant, I tried again, moving my fingers to make a sound, but it sounded nothing like the way he played. He leant in closer to inspect.

"I think I know what the problem is." He gently lifted one of my fingers and tapped it. "Your fingers are too small. They aren't covering the holes."

I looked down and noticed there were tiny gaps where my finger should be covering the entire hole. I tried to squish my fingers in them, but it was no use. "Aw…"

"See, look," He turned the ocarina over where the thumb holes, the largest of the holes, were. My thumbs barely covered them. I stuck one of my thumbs in just to see how big these holes were, and the hole almost reached the base of my thumb.

"I think we've established I'm a lost cause when it comes to ocarinas…" I sighed, passing it back to him.

"They do make smaller ones, but yeah, it doesn't look like you'll be able to play this one." He gave a small laugh and ruffled the top of my head. "Good try though."

"I can't help my tiny hands!" I defended, looking down at my fingers. Curse you bony skeleton.

Roxas turned to his bag and pulled out an old-looking paper book. "This is filled with songs. Pick some and I'll play them."

We spent the next half an hour or so going through the song book. There were some classic songs and some songs I'd never heard of in my life, but they were all beautiful. Finally, he put it away and we started talking instead.

"Thanks again for bringing it in. It sounds just amazing."

"I'll play for you anytime," he said with a gentle tone that made my insides flutter, "It's just a shame you can't play it."

"I'm fine with just listening," I smiled at him, and I found myself in another one of those moments where it fell silent and we just looked at each other.

The afternoon slipped away and it was time for us to go to our respective classes. I thanked him again and waved goodbye as we walked in opposite directions. My head was spinning with song.

…

The weekend went by with another shift at Aerith's café, where Olette asked fervently about Friday. Kairi and Selphie weren't here today, thank goodness, and I could calmly tell Olette what happened. She had that knowing smile plastered on her face again and said she thought it was adorable. Our conversation turned back to uni assignments and working, but thoughts of Roxas were still swirling.

Back at uni, I wouldn't be seeing him again until Wednesday, so I went about my routine as usual. I headed for the café after my studio, wondering who would be there today (we still hadn't quite memorised when our breaks were and just went to the café every break). I stepped in and saw Terra, with two other boys I didn't know, and sat next to him.

He introduced me to his engineering friends and I poked fun at their difficult looking assignment. I was just about to get my sketchbook out when a certain someone found their way to my table.

"You're bad at phones."

Sure enough, Roxas was standing before me, and I jumped a little in my seat. "Phones? Did you…"

I reached down into my bag and, sure enough, there was a message from him that said "Behind you!". He must've been sitting in here and saw me come in.

"Sorry about that…" I said meekly, and he sat down. "You remember Terra, right?"

It was from that moment on that I always put my phone in my pocket, in anticipation for Roxas. I didn't want to miss anything.

That night, as usual, I had turned on my laptop while drawing and started chatting to Roxas and, as usual, the conversation made time go by in a blur and the night ran late.

I suppose I should have expected it with his little hints at texting him if I couldn't sleep, but I was still filled with a swelling curiosity when he said "How about I call you instead?"

Without hesitation, I agreed, turned off the laptop and got ready for bed, and once I was hopped under the covers and kept my phone close. It rang shortly after.

"Hey, you! Long time no speak!" I laughed, realising how lame my attempt at a funny opener really was, but he laughed all the same.

"Oh yeah, I was beginning to think we might become strangers!" He teased back.

We were getting to know each other so well already, so now our conversations were turning more detailed. Roxas even suggested we both come up with questions we'd like to ask each other, which was what we were doing now. I was always bad at these kinds of things, but the questions seemed to flow nicely. I was quickly peeling away at Roxas' layers and finding many wonderful things underneath. His family and friends, our similar interests and beliefs, his sense of humour and his honesty. At the same time, he was learning a lot about me too, even more than Kairi probably knew.

"I really miss it, it was a great year. I remember when- oh, I'm sorry, I've just been babbling on about myself…"

A chuckle from the other end. "It's a nice change of pace from _me_ babbling on about myself."

"Nah, I think it's your turn, you're probably sick of my voice."

"No, keep talking. I like listening to you."

My body writhed from embarrassment. There was something oddly giddy about hearing nothing but his voice, while I was sitting in my room late at night.

"Y-Your voice is nicer, so I think it's your turn… Besides, I have another question!"

"Okay, shoot."

It was lucky we were with the same phone company and got free calls, because our conversation ran into the early morning. My eyes were drooping and I knew I'd regret this at 7am tomorrow – or today – but I really enjoyed talking to Roxas. Everything he said was interesting, and one of the things I liked most was that he got me out of my shell more, and I felt I could trust him and tell him anything. Well, almost anything.

We finally decided to bed each other goodnight, begrudgingly, and even after he'd hung up his gentle voice was buzzing around my head, and I fell asleep easily.

…

Preview

"Oh my god he loves you!"

"Play something!"

"I have to warn you I'm pretty good."

"I have a surprise for you."

"Guess what song was playing on the radio again?"

…

* * *

This chapter was all about Roxas and Naminé :3 I wanted to take some time to explore their relationship and how much time they're spending together. It's all getting very exciting for Naminé, but what else will be in store for her? You'll find out in the coming chapters!

Don't forget to check out **Fiction Café** and to leave a review on your way out! Hope you enjoyed!


	7. The Chase

A/N: Oh my good gracious it's been a long time. I've had this chapter written for a while, but I had real trouble deciding where to end it and where the next chapter would kick off, but I've finally reached a conclusion. Not to mention school has been crazy. But enough with the excuses and onward with the chapter!

* * *

…

While I was off in my own little dizzying world getting to know Roxas, the girls seemed to have calmed down on the subject. Kairi was complaining about Sora falling asleep in lectures again, Selphie was busy with a huge assignment and Olette was her usual quiet self. She was the one who knew the most about Roxas since she caught the train with us on Wednesdays, but apart from Kairi and Selphie, she actually believed me when I said we were just getting to know each other, and so she let it be. Which I was thankful for, because it was just nice being in the moment, and it was refreshing getting to know someone like Roxas – someone I hadn't met through school, or mutual friends… someone I met by complete chance.

I didn't have to worry about the boys either. As far as Terra and Riku were concerned, Roxas was an acquaintance and friend of mine who they might see around more often. And as far as Sora knew, Roxas didn't even exist. I threatened to skin Kairi alive if she went around telling Sora I had a boyfriend, and she promised not to tell him unless something actually happened. She could keep dreaming.

I yawned and stretched at the table, causing the heads of those sitting with me to turn.

"Woah, Nam, didn't spend an all-nighter working on colouring a tree, did you?" Riku teased, once again opting for a messy kebab as his choice of meal, dropping lettuce all over the table.

I turned to him with raised eyebrows. "Drawing is a lot harder than it looks. But, uh-" I suddenly remembered what had kept me up last night, "I, yeah, I was working on an assignment til late…"

"Must be tough," He nodded unsympathetically, patting his thick law textbook.

"Oh, shush. I work harder than Sora."

At this moment Sora's head shot up from where it was resting in his arms, unfinished lecture notes by his side.

"That's true," Riku teased, to which Sora pouted. "Anyway, don't work yourself too hard, Nam. You too, Olette."

Olette looked up from her notes, taking a moment to register what he'd said after being so absorbed with her book. "Hm? Oh, I won't! We just finished an assignment so it's not too stressful right now."

"How'd you go?" Sora asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "I just finished an assignment too. I've got placement next week!"

"Ooh, working with five year olds, you'll be right at home," Riku teased again, and Sora punched his arm playfully.

"It'll be my first time teaching since work experience. I can't wait!"

I smiled as we listened to Sora excitedly telling us about the school he was going to, interrupted only by a buzzing in my pocket. I'd forgotten I'd started putting my phone in there. I pulled it out and quickly glanced at the screen.

"We finished our support class early! My tutor almost never lets that happened. How's your day been?"

I smiled even wider, thankful the others were so absorbed with Sora that they didn't see. I didn't want to seem rude though, so I waited til he was done before replying:

"Yay! It's been good, I'm having lunch with the others right now. Maybe you could pop by?"

Sora stood up to finally buy some lunch before his break ended, and Riku started an animated conversation about his crazy lecturer. Olette and I were giggling at his story and I was clutching at my phone ready for another buzz, but I needn't have – I saw spiky blonde hair bouncing up and down as Roxas stepped into the café.

"Hey!" I called out, waving him over, and Riku and Olette turned towards him. Roxas pulled an extra chair up next to me.

"Hey, everyone," He greeted politely. I thought it was adorable how formal he acted sometimes.

"Hey, Roxas, was it?" Riku dropped another lettuce shred as he asked. "Filling up before your next class?"

"Only briefly," Roxas chuckled, "I usually have a lecture straight after my support class, but we finished early, so I've got about fifteen minutes break."

"That's enough to fit lunch in," Riku nodded his head thoughtfully. I scoffed. "C'mon Nam, I once had to eat lunch in the five minutes between one lecture and the next, and they were on opposite sides of the campus. I tell ya, uni puts your body to the test!"

We fell silent as Cackles the cleaning lady walked by to push Sora's bag under the table (Riku giving me a fake look of despair) before retreating to the centre table where she joined the unwitting students sitting there. At that moment, Sora returned with a variety of foods, none of which looked healthy. He almost didn't notice the extra person at the table. "Oh! I didn't know there was someone else."

"This is my friend Roxas," I introduced. I was getting better at it now. "Roxas, this is Sora."

They shook hands and exchanged greetings, Sora giving a friendly grin. It never took long for Sora to make new friends, what with his goofy charm. As silly as he could be sometimes, his intentions were always genuine and true. I envied Kairi in that respect.

"So what are you studying, Roxas?" Sora asked, stuffing a jam doughnut in his mouth.

"Business," Roxas said, and I could see in his expression he was fervently wondering what on earth Sora studied – he looked like he was just here for the food.

"Oh, really? My girlfriend is doing business, maybe you know her!" The brunette turned to me, "Have you introduced him to Kairi?"

"Not yet," I smiled sweetly, and as an afterthought in my mind: _or ever._ Of course she would meet him eventually, but he was just a friend, so why would I go out of my way to make sure he knows all of my friends in my second week of knowing him? Plus, I didn't want to imagine what kind of tricks Kairi would pull.

"I've heard about her though," Roxas interjected, "maybe I've seen her around?"

"She's got red hair, and she's really pretty," Sora added with a lopsided grin. Another thing I envied – how completely infatuated he was with her.

"Red hair… can't say I do."

"Hm… she is doing a double degree so I guess she'd have less business classes. Well, maybe you'll be with her later on!"

Sora, Riku and Roxas began an animated conversation about guy stuff, and I looked at Olette every now and then with an amused expression. Sora seemed to get on with Roxas especially well, like they were long lost twins, interested in the same things and often spurting out similar phrases. Every now and then Roxas would glance at me with an expression I couldn't quite pinpoint, but it made my chest flutter and I revelled in the sensation.

The fifteen minutes was over before it even began, and Roxas had to leave, along with Riku and Sora. Sora bundled up his food and Roxas chuckled, saying goodbye to me before leaving. I watched them as they left; Roxas looked back at me with a smile.

I turned to Olette and she just smiled at me. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but dismissed her somewhat questionable smirk when she said "So how's your assignment going?"

…

I got home that afternoon completely bushed, wishing dejectedly that I was Roxas – he'd gotten home an hour earlier, he'd boasted before. I dropped my heavy sketchbook on my desk and retreated to divulge in some relaxation.

A well-known hobby of mine, when my parents weren't around, was to play on the keyboard in the living room, my only way of playing other than the piano at uni. I wasn't overly talented and never had any lessons, but music was something I enjoyed immensely. After dropping me off, mum had gone grocery shopping, and so I was left to indulge in the silence, turning up the sound on the electric device and playing to my heart's content.

The majority of the songs I played were from games, practised to perfection from the love I had for the stories and meanings behind the notes. I even knew a few tunes from the game Roxas and I both liked. I enjoyed changing the tune from piano to piccolo, which made it sound similar to an ocarina. Who needs the real thing, right?

I was playing a piano piece when I felt a vibration in my pocket. I still wasn't quite used to having it there, but it was lucky I did – Roxas was calling.

Smiling like an idiot, I hit the receive button. "Hello?"

"Hey there." His voice emanated from the phone, sounding elated. "How was uni?"

"Tiring," I said with humourlessly, "You didn't have to go boasting you finished before me!"

He chuckled, and my smile widened without thought. "Hey, you got me up early on my Friday sleep-in, I think a deserve something! So, what are you up to?"

"Just playing some piano," I said, realising I'd stopped playing. I was an incredibly private person and not many people had heard me play, and with another's presence I had ceased practising.

His voice heightened from excitement. "Really? I was about to play my ocarina." I heard shuffling and then a note. "Hope you don't mind."

"No, I love it when you play!" It was a bit of a frustrating feeling, when someone thought something they did might bug you when in fact you found it incredibly amazing. I couldn't get enough of his playing.

A bashful chuckle, followed by a small tune. "One of your favourites, right?"

"Mhm!" I nodded even though he couldn't see me, and to my surprise I heard an equally exuberant "Mhm!" right back. I giggled. He was obviously teasing me. I turned down the volume of my keyboard and played at a few stray notes, hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Can you play any?" He asked. He must have heard. I searched my mind for any excuse not to play, but then a thought came to my mind, one I had thought unconsciously ever since meeting him.

Roxas was certainly an unexpected surprise in my life, and there was no denying that while I was taking this as just two people getting to know each other, there was a certain feeling that maybe… this would turn into something more. But being both wary, inexperienced and a bit too much of a dreamer, I decided not to look into it too much. I didn't want to rid myself of the _possibility_, though – so I resolved to be completely myself around him. If he was going to like me, I wanted him to like me for who I really was, instead of the way I acted around someone I might be trying to impress. I embarrassingly remembered acting totally different around my old crushes, or even worse, hiding my hobbies and talents, afraid they might think I was bad at them or that it showed a weakness in my personality. With Roxas though, I had the deepest desire to be myself and only myself. So I wasn't going to hide my hobby of piano playing and if I didn't play perfectly, well, that was just a part of who I am. I wanted Roxas to know the real me.

And so I proceeded to play another song from our game, one of the most popular and bouncy tunes. I had learnt this by ear, so the next comment didn't come as a surprise.

"Some of those notes are wrong… play the start bit again?"

Instead of judging me, he taught me how to do it right, and before I knew it I was playing the tune more akin to the original. I played again for him and he gave an enthusiastic "that's it!", and I knew I'd made the right decision.

Now it was his turn – he played a different tune, one I also liked playing. He played the first part before stopping. "The next part goes way too high to play, at least indoors with my mum around."

I took the opportunity and played the next bit myself, and he fell silent as I played it. When I finished he remarked, "That's right!"

The conversation drifted away from music for a moment and we spoke about other things, including ourselves again. I loved how with every conversation I learned more and more about him, and he learned more about me.

I turned the keyboard even lower as I played a few notes, but he didn't seem to miss a beat. "Play something!"

I hesitated – thinking back again to my resolution with fervour, but not wanting to reveal the song I'd been practising since the start of the year – I was saving that one for when I'd mastered it. I hesitated a second too long and he proceeded to play another song on his ocarina, and I was met with self-inflicted disappointment as the conversation went on, without another mention of me playing. Another resolve – no more hesitating.

…

I'd only known him two and a half weeks, but I'd already fallen into a routine. Wednesday brought the usual train ride with Roxas and Olette (Olette had mentioned I looked tired, to which I'd countered with 'I was up late drawing', when really I was talking to Roxas all night), Thursdays Roxas would convince me to skip a lecture to hang out, and on Friday we met up. Only this Friday was very different.

The calls had suddenly become a nightly matter, and I'd shovel down my dinner in anticipation for his call, settling in for the rest of the night. Our conversations were always light and fun and full of laughter, with the occasional compliment thrown into the mix that would always make me blush. The nightly calls had happened so suddenly I hardly realised they were actually happening.

On the Wednesday, however, he had proposed something I hadn't been prepared for:

"Why don't you come over on Friday after uni instead? We can play games all afternoon!"

Yes, our very first conversation entailed us saying we should play games together, but no one ever delivers on those kinds of suggestions, right? Well, this one was coming true, and I felt a little off-guard. Excitement seeped through me though, and then embarrassment when I asked my mother if I could go to a uni friend's house and she pulled the most horrific face when I said they were male.

The week wore on a little slower than usual, due to my anticipation. Roxas excitedly pointed to his shirt on the train saying 'look what shirt I'm wearing!' (the same one he wore that fateful day), on Thursday he felt the need to ask me "Guess what song was playing on the radio again?" (Call me maybe), and as he'd walked into the café that day he had given the most heart-fluttering wink I had ever witnessed in my life. All of these things did nothing to calm my nerves about Friday, that was for sure. I know it sounds cliché, but that wink was enough to make a girl's heart melt.

So when on Friday morning I had seeked refuge in the piano room instead of hanging out with Roxas, who had argued he'd need sleep if I wanted his full attention this afternoon, I played game songs while dreamily wondering what his house looked like and what might unfold. I knew it would be nothing like how I imagined, but it was fun all the same.

The day finally ended and I was practically bouncing in my seat on the train, wondering what he was doing at that moment. Probably still asleep, I thought with a smile. I felt a strange sense of surreal-ness. The only other boys' house I'd been to was Sora or Riku's, and my parents knew them well, so it wasn't a problem, but this was a whole new situation.

It felt much more real once my mum pulled up into the driveway of his home. His house was at the far end of a gravel road a little ways from the centre of Destiny Retreat, in the opposite direction to the beach. The block of land was quite large and the house was shrouded in tall trees, with a paddock at the far back adorning a small vege patch. It was quite charming.

I kissed mum goodbye before bolting out of the car in excitement and heading to the front door. The stretch from the gate to the house was quite long, and when I was almost there the door opened itself, Roxas greeting me with a smile. He was wearing a casual blue t-shirt that sat comfortably loose on his torso.

"Hi! Aren't you cold?" I shivered just looking at him, wearing a knitted cream jumper myself.

"Nah, I've got the fire going," He grinned, letting me inside.

I scanned my surroundings curiously. To my right was the living room, where I could see he'd already set up the retro console to the television. The computer from which he must have tried and failed to webcam me was in the far corner, and opposite that was the dining room. There was an adjoining room from there, but I couldn't see what was in it. Just in front of me was the fireplace, crackling and radiating a comforting warmth.

"So, do I get the grand tour?" I asked a little awkwardly, waiting for him to take the lead.

"Sure, follow me." He trailed around the fireplace, where there was another living room of sorts with a small couch. "This is the kitchen," He explained as we rounded the corner onto tiles. It was a quaint little family kitchen, with photos on the fridge and a calendar with little notes on it, and from the looks of it a heart on the date of someone's birthday. "Dining's there, and my favourite spot, the computer," He joked as we did a pivot back into the living room. I followed him down the hallway as he pointed to the different rooms. "My parents' room, the bathroom, the guest room, and…" He opened the last door at the end of the hall. "… my room."

The bedroom was pretty much how I pictured a boys' room – plain and simple with block colours and the essential furnishings. Sitting parallel to his window was the double bed, adorned with a dark blue set of sheets and blankets; wedged between the bed and the window was a large wooden bedside table, with a handheld console charging atop the mess; opposite from the bed was a small desk and chair and a desk of drawers and shelves, and sitting on top on the display was his ocarina; to the opposite of the window was the wardrobe. It looked like he'd tidied up his room a little, which I thought was cute.

"It's not much," He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No, it's great!" I scanned the various games on his shelf, a lot of them familiar. "And of course, your beloved ocarina is on show!"

"Always," He grinned, pulling it down to quickly play it. "It's too bad you can't play it."

"I can cheat with the keyboard," I shrugged, "so what are we playing first?"

He led me back into the living room and I sat down on the couch as he pulled up the controllers. They were old, but you could tell he'd kept them in good condition.

"Only the best retro game ever," He smirked as he gave the console a tap and turned on the screen, "I started playing this before I could even talk. It's really old, but a lot of fun."

The title screen came up, a barrage of giant pixels moving slowly across the screen. I'd never seen such an old game like it. He turned to me with a cheeky smirk before remarking, "I'm an expert; just follow my lead."

We played the ultra-old game for about an hour, Roxas correcting my button mashes and me giggling every time I died or he had to rescue me. Then came the final boss, a dreaded purple thing that looked suspiciously like… well, you know…

"The famous penis monster," Roxas explained when he noticed my face. "Yeah, I think the developers were having a little too much fun."

After giggling through that, it was time to play a game I was much more accustomed to on a much more recent console.

"I have to warn you I'm pretty good," I said with a playful undertone, and he just looked up at me with a fake scoff.

"I'm pretty good myself; let's find out who's the best!"

We must have played for hours, mashing, screaming and shouting over the game in delight when it was a close match. The afternoon simply flew by and before I knew it I felt a vibration in my pocket.

"Oh…" I stopped to look, and saw my mum was here. "Guess it's time to go."

"Already?" Roxas screwed his face up in disappointment. "That went fast. But just for the record, I beat you more times than you beat me."

"Well next time you're in for a real challenge, buddy!" I teased, standing and finding my bag. We walked over to the door and I paused. "Thanks a lot for today, it was really fun."

"Thanks for coming," He smiled, and extended his arms. I leaned into it and we hugged goodbye, maybe for a bit longer than we should have. I realized it was the first time we'd ever hugged, and it was that moment I decided he was very good at giving hugs.

"Well-" I reached for the door handle at the same time he did, but instead of seeming embarrassed he just smiled and opened it for me. That was another thing I liked about Roxas – he didn't sweat the small stuff, and he didn't get embarrassed over the little things. Our personalities mixed well in that respect.

I stepped outside and saw my mum in the car with a suspicious grin. I did a little skip as I walked to the car and waved at Roxas by the door. "Bye!"

"See you!" He wore his famous slanted grin as he waved back.

I collapsed into the car with a wide grin, and thankfully mum was oblivious.

"Did you have fun?" She asked as she pulled out of the driveway, and I nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I did."

…

The days seemed to slip by in a haze, and all of a sudden it was Wednesday morning again and I was waiting at the station for Roxas and Olette. Assignments were building and my evenings were filled with calls or instant messages from Roxas, and so the days seemed to meld together.

I pulled my coat closer to me, though it didn't help against the cold. Icy wind breezed with ease through the open doors of the station, and my hair was a blonde frizzy mess from going from hot lecture rooms to freezing conditions every day.

I forgot all about the cold though the instant Roxas entered the station, smiling over at me and looking rather happy himself.

"Hey," He smiled, immediately plonking his bag down beside him, presumably because we were still waiting for Olette. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Hm?" I watched curiously as he dove into his bag, carefully pushing aside books and looking for said surprise. He came back up holding a small origami cube, half red and half green. He handed it to me and watched me expectantly.

"Oh," I said, genuinely surprised, turning the paper cube this way and that. What was it?

"Here," He chuckled and took it back, and started to unfold the corners, revealing its' true form. It didn't take me long to twig – the red flaps folded out into petals and the green flaps turned out to be leaves.

It was an origami rose cube.

I was almost speechless at first, and when he handed it back to me all I could say was, "Aww, that's so sweet!"

A thousand thoughts ran through my head at that moment, but there was one that stood out above them all: _He likes you_. I knew my gut feeling must have been right, but having something like this happen to me for the first time was completely surreal.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's so cute!" I smiled up at him. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah," He nodded. "I made a whole bunch of them for practise. I thought you might like it."

I looked back down at it with a smile. Okay, so maybe he hadn't made it especially for me, but the thought was there all the same. Giving someone something like this is a clear cut sign, right? Oh god, Kairi was right. She must never know about this.

Kairi quickly dispelled from my mind though as I held the delicate paper rose in my hands, unable to hide my smile. He didn't seem the type to do origami, but he certainly was very sweet.

"You can put it away if you want, you know," He teased, watching me clutch it like it was a newborn child. "It won't go anywhere."

"I don't wanna squish it…" I admitted, and at that moment Olette came into the station. We both waved hello and she immediately glanced at the cube just as the train rolled in.

She didn't say anything, but her smile said it all. I gave an embarrassed smile back.

…

When Roxas and Olette had left the train for the usual campus, I pulled out the rose cube from my bag again to make sure it wasn't squished. It all still felt so surreal, everything that was happening with Roxas. Was it really happening at all?

Kairi was right, love really did pop up when you least expected it. But of course, this wasn't love yet, and maybe it wouldn't be – I wasn't going to think on it too much. Maybe nothing would happen at all. But this did seem a strong sign…

I arrived at my station and hopped off, protecting my cube from the light trickle of rain falling from the pale clouds above. I went down the ramp as usual, past the coffee shop on my way across the street, past Selphie buying a muffin – Selphie!?

I did a double-take and sure enough, there was Selphie with a triple-choc muffin and a latte, clad in even more layers than I was, though marginally more stylish. I raced back towards her with a wave and saw her do the same turn of the head I had moments before.

"Hey, Nam!" She waved exuberantly. How did she have so much energy at this hour, and in this weather? "I thought I might see you!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, staring enviously at the steam billowing from her cup. "I thought you had an early class on Wednesday mornings?"

"I usually do, but my train got terminated here instead and I've been delayed for aaages." She rolled her eyes and took a sip of her latte. "I don't think I'll even – ohmygosh! Who gave that to you!?"

It took a moment for me to realise what Selphie was referring to, and just as my brain registered she'd sat her muffin on the counter of the coffee shop and snatched the rose cube right out of my hands.

"Is this from Roxas!?" She shrieked, her eyes bulging maniacally from her head. "Oh my god, it is, isn't it!?"

"Hey, be careful with that!" I leaned forward but she retracted tactfully, playing with the paper petals. "He, he gave it to me this morning…"

"That is so adorable!" She was practically jumping up and down, her hair bouncing along with her. "Oh my god he loves you!"

I just smiled embarrassedly, turning to see if any onlookers were staring wildly at us. I was probably going to be late for my tutorial, but somehow there was something tantalisingly wonderful about having Selphie shriek about a boy who liked me. It somehow made it a bit more real knowing someone else was there to validate my thoughts.

She turned it this way and that, still murmuring "That is_ so_ cute," and "oh gosh, what a cutie!" so that I was turning pink in the face. "He hasn't even known you that long, Nam – he must really like you."

I flushed even more. "I don't… know about that."

But watching Selphie ogle at the paper rose and remembering his expression when he'd given it to me, I couldn't help but just get lost in the feeling. There was nothing to lose, right? This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to me, so I ought to enjoy it.

Maybe Kairi was right after all.

…

_Preview_

"What's wrong?"

"You can't stay in those! Hang on."

"Cold?"

"Anything's fine, I'm easy."

"How much will you let me?"

* * *

…

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! More development to Roxas and Naminé, and of course it will get more exciting very quickly – in fact, I have a special announcement in two chapters' time. Hope you look forward to the next one, and hopefully it does not take so long this time! (I'm about as timely as Natalie Tran…)

Don't forget to check out **Fiction Café** for very important chapter discussions and thanks a bunch as always!


	8. Firsts

A/N: A slightly quicker update! This is the longest chapter yet, so please let me know if it's a little long-winded, but something exciting does happen! Enjoy!

* * *

I'd finally managed to pry the rose cube away from Selphie and make my way to my tutorial, to which I was already about half an hour late for (but not before I made the girl swear not to tell Kairi). The cube still clutched in my hands, I raced up the stairs and knocked hesitantly on the door, and the tutor gave me a harsh look before letting me in. I rushed over to the nearest free seat, luckily next to someone I knew.

"Late again, tsk, tsk!" The pink-haired girl teased beside me, her long wavy hair swishing over her shoulder.

"Don't remind me, Serah," I sighed, tucking my bag under the table and placing the rose cube gently on top. I saw Serah's eyes glance over but before she could say anything the tutor had begun talking, which I was slightly thankful for. I knew she was no Selphie, but I think I'd had enough girlish shrieks for one day.

Once we'd begun work and went to the computers to begin designing, Serah glided closer to me in her wheelie chair and said, "I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Nam!"

It suddenly wasn't so cold in here anymore. "Ah, actually, I-I don't, but…"

Her face was growing with excitement by the second. "But there's a boy, right? Oh Nam, I'm so happy for you!"

"Aha, thanks, Serah," I smiled, at least thankful her reaction was calm and… you know, normal.

"That rose is so adorable. Snow's not the type for origami," She said thoughtfully, referring to her own boyfriend. If I remembered correctly, she'd been dating him since high school. "But he's just as sweet. Not that my sister thinks so."

I'd heard the horror stories of her sister beating up Snow, alright. "Lucky I don't have a sister then! Say Serah, how long had you known Snow before he asked you out?"

"Hm?" She turned back momentarily from her newly opened design on the screen. "It wasn't long at all, actually. He said he fell head over heels for me from the moment he saw me. He asked me out after a few days."

"That's so cute," I smiled. I wondered if this meant Roxas would ask me out soon? We'd known each other barely for a few weeks, but it had felt like so much longer. And after this rose cube… a strange, bubbly feeling filled me up from my toes to my head and I could barely concentrate on my own design.

…

By the time I got back to the usual campus I'd stowed away the rose cube in my bag, though very carefully to make sure it didn't get squished. I had missed the first shuttle bus back after having an animated chat with Serah after class, so I decided not to go to the lecture I had already missed twenty minutes of and went straight to the café, in the hope some of the others would be there. I found Kairi, Terra, Olette and – to my great surprise – Ventus.

"Ven, you're alive!" I exclaimed as I rounded the corner into the warmth and the sweet smells. He looked up with that same old smile of his. Ven had always had this naïve air about him, or maybe it was the way Terra was always acting like his big brother. I knew he'd make a great teacher one day though.

"Hey Nam!" He called out and ushered me over, and I sat between him and Kairi. "This is so great, I decide to skip a lecture and so many of you are here!"

"Too bad the two rascals couldn't be here," Terra said, clearly enjoying the absence of food strewn across the table by Sora and Riku.

"Wait, Sora's on placement, right? Why aren't you, Ven?" I asked, knowing they were doing the exact same course.

"They're doing a round robin sort of thing depending on our other classes," Ven sighed, "It's really weird and complicated. I really wanted to do placement this week too…"

"It'll be worth the wait," Olette chimed in, a set of readings in front of her, none of which she was paying attention to. "Actually Nam, I was just telling Kairi how Roxas looks a little like Ven."

"Yes, let's talk about that," Kairi leaned forward with her chin resting on her hand, and she raised her eyebrows at me. I thanked the gods my bag was still concealing the rose cube.

Before I could smack Kairi Terra had joined in. "Oh yeah, he does look a bit like Ven," He said thoughtfully, eyeing Ven's spiky hair. "Same hairdo. But Roxas's features are a bit sharper. Ven's more… how do you say it…"

"Child-like?" Olette offered, and Terra snapped his fingers. Ven pulled a face of utter despondency.

"I do not look like a kid!"

"You and Sora will both look like students when you do placement."

"_Hey_!"

I giggled, but took a glance at Ven and realised they did look a lot similar because of their hair. Like Terra said though, Roxas had more rugged features while Ven was more rounded and softer. It was one of those things you didn't notice until it was pointed out.

"And I thought now that Aqua was in the city I would get less flack… this is just as bad as being the third wheel." Ven sighed and resigned himself to the education essay he'd probably long since abandoned. I giggled, remembering how much Ven would complain when Terra and Aqua got all gushy, but those three really were inseparable. I knew he secretly missed their trio.

"Don't worry Ven, you'll always be the one we take the piss out of," Terra smirked, still not looking away from his laptop. Ven huffed.

"Oop, I got a message from Sora," Kairi pulled out her phone and read it out. "_'Having a great day! One kid sneezed on me but they all call me 'Mr. Sora'!'_ Aww. I'm not going anywhere near him for a week."

We all laughed and procrastinated for another hour or so before we all had to leave for class. I figured Roxas wasn't going to try and make me miss my lecture again after what happened last week, but I had an odd inkling about when I'd see him next. What exactly did this rose cube mean?

…

With Wednesday night came the usual phone call, but nothing of said of the rose cube except I thanked him again and told him I'd sat it on the top of my desk. It proved a great distraction while I was trying to work on my final art piece. The feeling that had bubbled away since he gave it to me and, perhaps, since he'd given me his number, became more and more pronounced as our conversation went on. The lulls in his voice as spoke, the way he made me giggle and the repeated 'mhms!' sent me in a state where I couldn't even think, all I knew was that I wanted to talk to Roxas for as long as I could. Unfortunately we both had early starts, so our goodnight was earlier than usual.

Thursdays I usually didn't see him at all, and I didn't see anyone at the café today. It happened sometimes when the others were busier than usual or off with other people, and I got a bit more of my work done in the studio. It was time for an early day off and I was on the train home by midday.

When I was almost back at Destiny Retreat I felt a buzzing in my pocket and excitedly pulled it out, knowing who it would be.

"Hey Nam, how's your day been? My bus got cancelled and I'm stuck at the station for a while."

I looked up at the electronic ticker bar at where the next stop was. I was about five minutes away. Maybe I would delay that call to mum for a little while…

The train arrived and I quickly prank called my mum, knowing she'd be about ten minutes. That would give me ten minutes waiting with Roxas. I almost skipped out of the station and found him sitting at the bus stop outside the station.

"You poor thing," I said, and he jumped slightly before realising it was me.

"Hey Nam! Didn't know you were finished already?"

I sat down next to him, shrugging into my coat – the winter air had picked up and there was a light spattering of rain. "Yep, on a cold day like this half-days are the best."

"Not as good as days off," He teased.

"You take too many of those."

"Aw, come on! You gotta relax every now and then." He smiled, and I just shook my head at him. He was just lucky he was so clever he could skip lectures and still get top marks. "I heard Sora's on placement this week, how's that going?"

I smiled this time. I loved how Roxas was getting on with my friends so far, especially Sora. "A student sneezed on him, but he's having fun so far."

"Oh, nice…"

We laughed and talked about our days for a few minutes, and a cold wind picked up so I violently stuffed my hands into my pockets. Perhaps I unconsciously willed it to happen, but when it did it still sent shivers down my spine, and not from the chilly air…

"Cold?" Roxas asked, and I nodded into my scarf.

"I've been cold for weeks now."

Chuckling, he held out his hands. I stared at them stupidly for a moment, my heart hammering, and finally pulled my hands out of my pockets as he reached out for them. Warm skin hit cold and the heat seemed to bypass my hands and go straight to my face.

"Wow, they really are cold!" He sounded genuinely surprised, and at the same time I was surprised by how warm his own were. Of course that was secondary to the fact that we were holding hands for the first time. I felt that bubbling feeling re-emerge as he rubbed his thumbs over the top of my fingers in an attempt to warm them up. If this wasn't a clear-cut sign, I didn't know what was. I felt a burst of nervous excitement.

I could hardy think of anything to say so I was thankful when he spoke up. "You need a permanent hand-warmer or something."

"Maybe I could just take your hands then?" I said it before I thought it and blushed furiously. He smirked.

"So you'd like it if I went everywhere with you holding your hands?"

The connotation beneath this statement was too much to bear and I just hid my face in my scarf, earning another small chuckle from him. The sun came through the clouds and I finally looked up, more to bask in the extra warmth, but my eyes moved straight to his eyes. The sunlight hit them and they were a dazzling shade.

He pulled a funny face and said "What?"

"Oh, nothing. The sun's making your eyes look nice." I gave one of Sora's signature goofy smiles back.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they've got all these different shades in the sun." I looked away now, more to see if my mother was pulling into the car park yet. He was still holding my hands, his thumbs gently brushing over my skin.

"Would you like to stare into my eyes?" He teased, and I looked back and rolled my own. "A bit warmer now?"

"Yeah, thanks…" I nodded, squeezing his hands a little. We were looking at each other again, staring like we did back in the café, where just for a moment all there was in the world was his face, his eyes...

I saw the flash of a white car and retracted my hands, a little too quickly (what if she saw!?) and stood up. "Ah, my mum's here. When does your next bus get here?"

"It shouldn't be too much longer," He said, with an all-too-knowing smile at my sudden withdrawal. "Hey, did you want to come over again after uni tomorrow? Maybe we could grab lunch together too?"

I smiled, that feeling again rising in me, and nodded. "I'd like that! I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"See you," He waved, and I raced towards the car for it had just started to rain harder. Once inside the warmth of the car, I waved to Roxas as we drove off, my fingers still tingling from his touch.

…

Inside the safe refuge of a heated house my hands were still cold as I worked on my art piece later that night. Finally I gave up, feeling my creative juices running dry, and went instead to that ever distracting thing called social media. I wished Sora a good last day of placement for tomorrow, messaged Aqua to see how she was going without us and (begrudgingly) told Kairi about what was to unfold tomorrow.

_Kai: Omigosh, he so likes you. I bet tomorrow's the day he like asks you out_

I hadn't told Kairi any of the more exciting things that had happened yet, but finally decided to reveal to her that maybe she had been right all along.

_Nam: I dunno about that, but I do have a feeling there may be something there after all… you may have been right_

I could practically hear her smashing her keyboard from here, which probably could have been very possible since we lived pretty close.

_Kai: Are you sesious!? Omfihg fIf I knew it! Wait I'm gonna call you_

Not a second after I read her message did my phone vibrate. I fervently hoped Roxas would hold off calling me tonight as I hit 'answer'.

"Naminé what do you mean!? Has he said he likes you!? Has he kissed you!? Are you in love!?"

"Kairi, just- calm down you goof! You're getting worse than your boyfriend!" I'd meant to sound menacing but I could barely hold back my excitement.

"Seriously though, what's happened to make you think that I'm right? Of course I knew all along I was."

"Of course. Anyway, I didn't tell you but two days ago he gave me an origami rose cube, and yesterday we ended up holding hands…"

As expected, a squeal from the other end. "That is _so_ adorable, Nam! How'd you end up holding hands?"

"Well, we were outside and he saw I was cold."

"Oh gosh, that is so something Sora would do. Maybe he gave him tips or something."

"But Kai, I'm a little nervous about tomorrow… what's gonna happen?"

"Nam, I wouldn't worry." It was easier said than done, but something about her voice put me at ease. "Just let it unfold naturally! Oh, I'm so happy for you two!"

"Geez…" She was right though, and I wasn't going to worry about it too much. Whatever happened, happened… All I knew was that I really liked Roxas. He'd been so kind to me and wanted to get to know me… right; I would just go with the flow.

"Just FYI though, if he kisses you, you _have_ to call me like straight away! I don't care if he's still there, you call me as soon as you're done!"

"Yes, because that's what you did after your first kiss with Sora," I sighed. As confident and sure of herself as Kairi was, I could always use that day as blackmail against her. After he kissed her she basically abandoned him, ran into the next room and called me up.

"Hey, that was a long time coming, you know. This is different. You haven't had over a year of tension."

"Sure, Kai." I heard a beep and knew it was Roxas calling. "Speak of the devil, he's calling me now."

"Ah! I won't hold you two lovebirds up! I'll be expecting a call tomorrow!"

I just laughed, knowing she wasn't kidding. "See you, Kai." I hung up and beeped Roxas in. "Hey, Roxas!"

"Hey, you sound a little excited!"

I realised my voice was still elevated. "Sorry, I was just talking to Kairi. You know how girls can get," I chuckled nervously, hoping he wouldn't guess I was talking about him just seconds ago.

We settled into the usual conversation of our days and what we were doing, and I'd settled on my bed, fiddling with my socks as we spoke.

"So, have you got any more questions for me?"

We'd been asking each other questions to get to know each other, but mine had run dry. Of course, there were still things I was curious about, but I wouldn't even dare to ask them. "Not really. Do you have any?"

"Hmm… maybe. But I don't know if I should ask them or not."

Was he thinking the same thing? "Well, we've barely known each other a month, but I feel like we've known each other for so much longer."

"That's so true," He said, and I smiled at the inflections in his voice. He should really do an audio book of every book I owned. "But I still feel like there's a lot to discover about you. I like everything about you so far though."

"Everything?" I said, disbelieving. "Even how quiet I am?"

"Especially that," He said, and I waited for an explanation. "I think we balance each other out nicely. Plus you talk to me a lot more than you think, so I guess I should feel pretty special, huh?"

I realised how true that was. "Yes, you should!"

"So what do you like about me?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I said some things I liked about you," he drawled, hinting, "is there nothing good about me?"

"Of course there is!" I exclaimed, caving in to his mischievousness. "I mean, with before, how I talk to you more, that's one of the first things I liked about you. How easy you are to talk to."

"Ha, ha, that's just because I talk too much."

"Well, I enjoy listening. Even your useless little facts!"

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"Well… because…" This threw me off-guard. "I mean, it's just nice to listen to you in general! You're really interesting and know a lot, and… you have a nice voice…" My own voice trailed off, but unfortunately he heard me.

"Oh? You have a nice voice too." As he said it, his own voice softened and my heart fluttered in my chest. "It's nice and gentle, so it's soothing."

"N-No…" I was glad he couldn't see me – I thought my face might explode from the smile I currently couldn't get rid of. "A-Anyway, this isn't about me! Um… I also like how unique you are. I… I've never met anyone like you before."

"I've never met anyone like you either."

I highly doubted that. I always thought I was pretty plain. "Um, and I like your honesty too. I know you'd always tell the truth about anything that pops up. And I like how you don't care what anyone else thinks of you."

"Well, I don't see why it should. If they don't like me for who I am, then I'm better off without them."

I thought briefly to my earlier resolve to be myself around him and smiled. Before I could think of another thing I liked about him, he went on.

"You don't normally seem the type to be this open, so this is pretty special, and I think you're quite amazing. It's nice to meet someone who holds true to what they like without selling themselves short."

"I…" Ooh he was smooth. "Stop going back to me, this is about you!"

"Heh."

"A-Anyway, I'm really grateful for how much effort you've put in to get to know me, so thank you… Oh, and I love listening to you play the ocarina."

"You'd be the only one!"

I could hardly believe that. "Well, everyone else is missing out! You can play it as much as you'd like around me." Preferably a lot. "So, um… I think you're an amazing person too, and I'm really enjoying getting to know you, so thank you for wanting to get to know me too."

"It's my absolute pleasure. I just have one question though."

"What's that?"

"How well do you want to get to know me?"

I paused. How was I supposed to answer that? I got the feeling he was after a specific answer, that he was prompting one out of me, but I didn't know what that answer was. "Well… everything! As much as I can. Oh, I thought of another thing! Um, I like your cheeky smile." I blurted it out before I could hold it in and threw my face into my pillow. A chuckle sounded from the other end.

"Thanks! You're cute when you smile as well."

Okay, change of subject! "So how well would you like to get to know me?"

His answer was quick, as if rehearsed: "How much will you let me?"

"Well… if we keep going the way we are, then a lot!" I replied, hoping it would be sufficient.

"I'd like that. Now it's your turn."

"Hm?"

"What I like about you!" I could hardly handle the off-hand compliments he usually gave. "Although I've mentioned a few things, I didn't add that I like your wit. Or that you're very pretty."

Ahh how Kairi would have loved to have heard that. I almost burst at the seams. "W-Well, thank you!"

"It's also not common to find someone with so many similar morals and interests, so… if you let me, I'd love to continue to get to know you, though I don't see there being anything I wouldn't like in you."

"O-Of course I'll let you."

I heard a small huff from the other end as he breathed out in reply. I wondered what he was thinking. The conversation fell back into casual talk, but I was still clutching my pillow and swaying from side to side. I was barely thinking, and just letting his words sink in and feeling on top of the world.

…

I awoke in the morning to the sound of rain. While this would probably be an incentive to sleep in and avoid a gloomy day, my thoughts went straight to yesterday's events and I was suddenly, for the first time, thankful for the cold weather. Waiting for the train, the icy air bit at the bare skin of my face but I barely noticed, hoping my morning would go quickly again so I could spend the afternoon with Roxas.

I again went to the piano room during my break before the last class, after which we would meet up at the bus loop. I played our songs, and I played the song I'd been practising since the start of the year. I was getting better at it, and I hoped I could play it to Roxas once I'd mastered it. I didn't pay much attention in my last lecture and thought fleetingly of how it was probably a good thing I didn't have a boyfriend in my final year of high school. I certainly wouldn't have been accepted to Radiant Academy.

The rain was still pounding down as I near-ran to the bus loop, my boots slipping on the wet ground and my umbrella threatening to turn inside-out. Roxas was waiting for me and we clambered into the bus.

"Lovely day we're having," He sighed, shaking the water out of his blonde spikes. They still managed to stick up despite being wet. I imagined throwing a bucket of water over him and his hair would still be standing up in its messy perfection.

When we got to the station we ended up having to run to catch the train on time, the entire day having seemed to be affected by the onslaught of rain. Our feet just hit the floor of the carriage as the doors shut automatically, and we fell into the first seats we could find, near-soaked.

"So where do you wanna go for lunch?" Roxas asked, tousling his hair and sending water droplets this way and that.

"Anything's fine, I'm easy."

"Don't say that…"

I whacked him on the side of his head. "Don't be gross!"

"You're the one with the dirty mind!" There he goes, making me look bad again. He was too clever for me to get around his witty conversations. "Alright, how about we grab some toasted wraps or something from the food court? Something to warm us up…"

I nodded happily. "Sounds good!"

The commute home went by quickly and it was still pouring when we headed for the bus stop.

"The shops isn't far, couldn't we just walk?"

"In this weather? What kind of guy would let that happen?" Roxas ushered me over to the bus and hopped on without even looking at the sign. He must've seen my expression. "Don't worry, this bus goes straight there."

We were the only two people on the bus and Roxas chose a seat closer to the back. We waited only a moment and the driver took off.

Roxas held out his hand. "Are your hands cold?"

Heart hammering, I held out my hand and he took it, again rubbing his thumb over the top of it. I hardly noticed the bus turning right when the shops were left.

"Don't worry, the bus goes this way around," He assured me, but I didn't really care where we went anymore. The bus could take us all the way to the city for all I cared, as long as he was sitting here holding my hand. However after a little while I could see Roxas looking a little worried.

"Wait here a sec," He let go and the warmth in my hand lingered as he went up to ask the bus driver what route we were on. I rolled my eyes. For all his cleverness at least I had the sense to know you should read the sign before stepping on a bus. He came back with a smile.

"Sorry, I got the wrong bus…" He ruffled his hair sheepishly. "But the driver said he'd drop us off since we're the only two here."

"That's so nice of him!" I smiled back, and soon we'd pulled up again on the main road. We thanked him and headed for the shops.

It was much warmer in here, but I could feel water in my boots and my damp socks sticking to my feet. I wondered if I'd see anyone I knew up here, but we didn't run into anyone as we headed for the food court.

"Wait here, I'll get the food, then we can eat back at my place," He said, noting how packed the area seemed to be. "It'll be much more comfortable."

I waited as he lined up and looked around for anyone I might know, and as I looked back and saw him ordering, a strange thing happened. Roxas was being served by someone who used to go to Destiny High with us, and someone I used to have a crush on. What a strange paradox it was for my former crush to be serving my current… male… potential boyfriend?

He came back with the food and put it in his backpack. "Hopefully it'll stay warm. Let's go!"

Back outside to another bus (where we checked the sign this time) and we were off. He lived a little ways out of Destiny Retreat, certainly further than the rest of us, but I didn't mind the longer bus ride when I felt his hand reach for mine again and rested it on his thigh. His hand was warm and I squeezed it slightly, and after a moment he let go only to gently intertwine our fingers. Softly tightening his hold and caressing my hand, I felt my stomach flutter delightfully. Things were suddenly getting real and I'd never felt anything like this before.

We got to the stop and he let go, and we hopped off into the rain. I pulled out my umbrella but it flipped inside out immediately and we had no choice but to use our hoods.

The trek to his house wasn't particularly long, but in the pounding rain it felt like forever. My jeans were soaked through to my bones and I looked wistfully at Roxas, who'd had the brains to pack an actual raincoat. My cotton one was just soaking up the water.

"Ahh, finally!" Roxas exasperated as we got to the gate, and we ran the length of the driveway to get to his house. He quickly unlocked the door and got me inside before locking it up again.

"I'm sorry there wasn't an easier way to get here…" He sighed, shaking his hair once again.

"No, it's fine! It's not even that bad!" I said this as I took off my boots, which were filled with water. I took off my coat so my torso was pretty dry, but my jeans were absolutely soaked.

He took one look at me and gave me one of his you-know-I'm-right looks. "You can't stay in those! Hang on."

He took off his raincoat (looking relatively dry, I thought enviously) and retreated to his room. I took off my drenched socks and hopped from one foot to the other on the cold tiles, and he returned with a pair of tracksuit pants.

"They might be a bit big, but you'll be dry at least."

I took them with a small, suspicious look on my face. Surely he couldn't have planned this, but there was something very cheeky about him giving me his clothes to wear the second time I come to his house. Still, I was shivering uncontrollably and resigned to wearing them.

Once I'd emerged from the bathroom changed and dry, Roxas came towards me with a sheepish expression.

"Our lunch is kind of soaked…"

It was true. The water had seeped through his bag and the wraps were now soggy masses. I couldn't help but laugh.

"This day isn't going at all how you planned, is it?"

He sighed. "Not really. It was much nicer in my head."

I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm not really hungry anyway."

"Well, I'll get the fire started, so make yourself comfy."

I sank into the squishy couch in the living room where we'd played the retro games the week before and watched as he prodded at the fire he'd made come to life. I got back up to stand in front of it and warm myself up.

"That better?" He smiled at me, but there was something different in the way he was smiling at me, the way he was looking at me. It was tender, gentle… that bubbly feeling from before rose up again and I didn't have to think too hard to know what it meant.

"I'm still a bit cold…" I said honestly, or maybe because I wanted a different kind of warmth.

"Would you like some blankets? Though it'd be easier just to put you in bed," He joked, but there was seriousness to his tone.

"D-Don't be silly…" I said, but I was still shaking and he didn't like it one bit.

"Come on," He said, basically dragging me down the hall, and I pretended to resist as we headed for his room.

It seemed he'd tidied it up again like last week, which I still found adorable. The doona did look rather soft and warm (especially for a boy's bed… I didn't think they felt the cold), and before I knew it I was sitting cross legged on his bed.

"That's not how you're supposed to get warm!" He sighed, and zipped straight under the covers.

"It's fine, I'm not so cold anymore."

"Liar."

I turned to my right and he was lying under the covers with his arms behind his head, looking utterly at home. I rolled my eyes and turned back to look around him room. Moreover it was to avoid eye contact with a certain someone.

He sat up again, though I was sitting closer to the middle of the bed and couldn't see him. Suddenly, a hand had made its way to my thigh and was caressing me softly. I tilted my head down slightly, and he had a soft expression. Every fibre of my being tingled and I couldn't comprehend what I was feeling. I was giddy, excited, I felt anticipation…

He leaned onto his back again and his hand disappeared, only to move its ministrations onto my back. I felt his hand rub up and down, up and down… I was in a kind of euphoria that disallowed me to think any thoughts, and all I knew was the strange sensation in my stomach, my head, my chest. The anticipation grew.

And yet the cold weather could not be helped and I shivered, partly from the cold and partly from the touches, and he said "Still cold?"

I didn't say anything but nodded, and finally looked at him. He smiled back and it was like he was silently taunting me with how warm he looked. Finally resigning to the fact the fire wasn't going to make this room any warmer, I crawled under the covers with him.

"H-Happy?"

He chuckled a little before he said "Yeah… I am." I knew he wasn't referring to me getting under the covers.

I settled into the pillow and the warmth from his body emanated, drawing me closer. We were facing each other, staring at each other, with that longing look we had shared so many times, back at uni, or on the train, or anywhere. He inched closer and wrapped his arms around me, strong and warm. I did the same without hesitation, my mind clouded, my thoughts no longer coherent. It was as Kairi had said: things were unfolding naturally.

He leaned his face forward and nudged it against mine, his eyes shut, a breath of content escaping him. Slowly, slowly, he leaned up and kissed me on the forehead. I realised I had held my breath as he leaned forward and finally let it out, shaky and nervous. I could barely comprehend what was happening. He leaned back down and looked into my eyes, and I looked right back. He started to lean even closer, even lower, so that I knew what was coming but for some silly reason I retracted back.

"What's wrong?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"N-Nothing," I shook my head slightly, looking embarrassed. "I'm just a little nervous…"

He chuckled softly, his breath tickling my nose. "Don't be…" His voice was rugged and smooth and distant. Leaning even closer, so our cold noses were touching, his eyes fluttered shut again and he was kissing me.

It was nothing like how I'd imagined it. His lips were soft against mine, his scent filling me up and the slow movements sending me into a trance. I wasn't worried or nervous anymore – I moved on instinct, my lips brushing against his, our bodies moving closer and his arms wrapping tighter around my back, trailing up and down and up again, up to my shoulder where it traced the base of my neck before moving up into my damp hair. His lips moved faster now, but still so gentle against mine, in a kind of hurried passion he had been waiting for what felt like years but was only merely weeks, and all that mattered to me in that moment was Roxas and the fact that he felt this way, that for the first time someone cared so much for me, to want to hold me and keep me warm and kiss me like this. He was all I could see, all I could smell, all I could feel. His thumb trailed up my cheek and he moved his lips against mine one last time before pulling back, though only slightly, so he could rest his forehead against mine and breathe a satisfied breath. He hummed a small note and his chest vibrated against me, and I realised my eyes were still shut and my lips had formed a smile as soon as they were parted.

We stayed laying there, his hand trailing around my back, his lips planting fleeting kisses on my forehead, my nose, my lips. I felt heady, high, not knowing what to think or do, but just enjoying the moment for what it was. Everything over the last three and a half weeks had led to this point. My doubt was all for nothing – Roxas had felt this way almost as soon as he'd seen me. The thought filled me with euphoria.

"Nice and warm now?" He said after a moment, back in his playful mood. I smirked and gave him an obvious expression. "I'm glad."

I had no idea what to say. I felt that the action of reacting to the kiss was enough for him to know that I felt the same way he did. My mind was still trying to get around the fact that he liked me so much. I'd never felt so… so… there was no word.

We spent much of the afternoon this way, until hunger finally struck us and we went to the kitchen to find what was there. By the time we ate, there was a buzz in my pocket that meant mum was here to pick me up.

"Time goes too fast, huh?" I added nervously, and he nodded, ruffling the top of my hair and messing it up.

"Sure does. I hope you had a good day."

"I did." I said as soon as he'd asked it. "Um… Roxas…"

"Yeah?"

I looked up at him and saw how happy he looked that I was here with him, how his day had gone despite the fact our lunch was ruined and we were soaked. Had he planned on this being the day he first kissed me? I wanted to say something, anything, to tell him how I felt…

"My pants!" I shouted as I realised, making him jump. I ran to get my still-wet jeans and came hurrying back. "A-Anyway, thanks for today."

"I'll see you soon," He said, and kissed my cheek before giving me a tight hug. I hugged back (as well as I could while holding wet jeans away from his body) and wanted nothing more than to stay here, to soak in his scent and learn even more about him even though I was pretty sure I knew everything, before listening to my better judgement and pulling back. I pulled on my coat, which was thankfully dry thanks for the fire, and he opened the door for me.

"Bye!" I waved, and he waved back as I headed for the car. My head was swimming and I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else ever again. Or you know just for tonight. There was one thing I did know, though – that the smile currently plastered on my face wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.

…

_Preview_

"I've never quite had that around anyone else."

"Um… have you ever had one, though?"

"So is it official, or…?"

"Wise decision, they only distract you."

"Alright, it's a date."

…

A/N:

Hope you enjoyed the super looong chapter! I try to give it a good mix of Roxas/Naminé as well as some of the other side plots to even it out, but for the next few chapters it'll be pretty couple-centric. Fluff galore! AND there's a **very special announcement next chapter** that I'm sure some of you will like! (While others may not :P) I know what you're probably thinking but don't worry, this story IS leading somewhere more interesting than just Naminé getting a boyfriend.

**An important question for you guys**: As you know this fic is rated T and as I'm exploring relationship in uni-aged students there'll be some mature themes (but honestly you've seen the way I write, it's not going to get that serious haha), but I'm playing around with the idea of going into more suggestive themes. Because this is Naminé's first relationship and at the age they are, there are obviously going to be connotations of 'the first time' and things like that. My question to you guys is: Do you want this story to stay light and fluffy while still exploring the main themes, or do you want sexuality to be explored? I will not be writing super explicit scenes but I may bump the rating up to M. It just depends on the majority of opinions but it's something to think about! Please let me know in your review!

And lastly, don't forget to check out **Fiction café** not only for the chapter review but for a special extra – a **Map of the world of Insatiable**! Not only will it give you a clearer idea of the world, but it will come in handy for what I have planned for Chapter 23. Thanks a bunch for reading!


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